Registered sex offender denies breach of order
John Wesley MacArthur, 34, of Burton, is accused of failing to report a change of address to centre that monitoring criminals convicted of sexual offences
A Burton man will stand trial early next year after denying a charge this week that he violated a condition of the sex-offender registration order to which he’s subject.
John Wesley MacArthur, 34, of Waterville Road, wasn’t present when his case was called Wednesday in Fredericton provincial court, but lawyer Alexander Carleton appeared as agent for defence counsel Alex Pate.
MacArthur is charged with breaching a court order issued under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA) on Feb. 8, 2022, by failing to report a change of address to the registration site within seven days of moving.
Carleton noted he was directed to enter a not-guilty plea on the client’s behalf, and Judge Lucie Mathurin scheduled the trial for Feb. 20.
The charge notes the SOIRA order was imposed during a sentencing hearing April 3, 2012.
A report from the Journal-Pioneer in Prince Edward Island from April 2012 noted that MacArthur, who was then living in O’Leary, P.E.I., was ordered by a Summerside court to register as a sex offender for 20 years after he pleaded guilty to having sexually assaulting an underage girl in 2010.
The P.E.I. provincial court heard the offender and the girl had been in a secret relationship.
He was 21 years old at the time, the Journal-Pioneer reported, while the girl was 14.
MacArthur was also sentenced to nine months in jail for the sex crime.
You can contact Don MacPherson at ftonindependent@gmail.com.