Sex offender admits to registration breach
Mark Douglas Harnish, 25, of Nasonworth, will be sentenced in December for violation of Sex Offender Information Registration Act order, failure to attend court
A convicted sex offender admitted Tuesday he didn’t keep authorities advised of where he was living as required by a court order, and that he failed to attend court previously on that charge.
Mark Douglas Harnish, 25, of Route 101 in Nasonworth, appeared briefly in Fredericton provincial court Tuesday with defence lawyer Edwrd Derrah to answer to two charges.
He was convicted after trial in 2019 for sexually assaulting a woman in 2017, and it was that conviction that led the court to impose an order on him under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA).
Harnish pleaded guilty Tuesday to breaching that order Feb. 28, 2022, but failing to report in person to the registration centre to update it on where he was residing.
He also admitted to a court of failing to attend court May 24 to answer to that SOIRA violation.
At the defence’s request, Judge Lucie Mathurin ordered the preparation of a pre-sentence report at the time of sentencing, which she set for Dec. 4.
Harnish was previously arrested and detained after his no-show in court, but he was later released on conditions. He remains free on those same conditions pending sentencing.
The offender also has a prior conviction for violating the SOIRA order. He was charged with failing to report to the registration centre between April and June 2000, and he was sentenced to a brief stint in jail for that offence.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.