Rusagonis man faces 11 new sex-related charges
Evan Sandwith, 21, opts for superior court trial on new charges as he awaits trial on two other similar counts
A Rusagonis man facing 11 charges alleging sexual crimes against a single underage complainant has opted to have his case heard at a higher level of court but without a jury.
Evan Sandwith, 21, of Noble Court, made his first appearance in provincial court Wednesday to answer to 11 charges. They allege:
- he sexually assaulted the complainant, an underage girl, with a knife, touched her for a sexual purpose and counselled her to touch him for a sexual purpose, all on Aug. 20, 2021, in Oromocto;
- that he committed the same three offences again against the girl between Sept. 1 and 30, 2021;
- that he sexually assaulted the complainant and touched her for a sexual purpose on Sept. 11, 2021;
- and that he sexually assaulted the complainant, touched that person and counselled that person to touch him Sept. 25, 2021.
Defence lawyer Emily Cochrane waived the reading of the charges and noted her client was electing to be tried in the Court of King’s Bench by a judge alone, without a jury.
She also requested a preliminary inquiry.
Such hearings are held to determine if there’s sufficient evidence to merit a trial at the higher level of court.
Cochrane asked for the matter to be set over for a week so she could provide the Crown with a list of issues and witnesses the defence was seeking to explore at the preliminary inquiry.
Judge Lucie Mathurin set the case over to March 16 to schedule that hearing.
Other charges
Sandwith is already awaiting a judge-alone trial in the Court of King’s Bench on one count of sexual assault and one of sexual interference involving a different underage complainant. That four-day trial is scheduled to begin June 19.
He was also acquitted in another trial last summer of summary counts of sexual assault and sexual interference.
During that trial, court heard Sandwith was hanging out with some other teenagers in on an abandoned boat near Hazen Park in Oromocto in September 2020. He was 18 at the time, and the female complainant - different from the other two cases - was 15, though she’d told Sandwith she was 16.
The girl - who can’t be named due to a court-ordered publication ban - testified she ended up walking alone with Sandwith after others in their group had left them behind.
That's when he touched her breast over her clothes, she said, followed by an effort to put his hand down her pants.
Sandwith testified said he hadn’t been walking alone with her that day and that it was another member of the group.
He admitted he had tried to hug the complainant at one point that day but she rejected his advances. He testified he never sexually assaulted her.
Judge Leslie Jackson said he found both witnesses to be credible and he didn’t know which account was the truth.
Consequently, he was left with a reasonable doubt as to Sandwith’s culpability and found him not guilty.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.