Trial dates set on child-porn charges
Donald Ashley MacPherson, 64, of Noonan, also stands accused of sexual assaults
Editor’s note: The defendant in this court report and the journalist covering the case share the same first and last names, but they aren’t related or connected in any way.
A Noonan man set to stand trial next month on sexual-assault and sexual-interference allegations now has trial dates later this year on related child-pornography charges.
Donald Ashley MacPherson, 64, of Hughes Street in Noonan, pleaded not guilty in November to charges that he accessed child pornography in Fredericton between Feb.12 and April 16 and that he possessed it May 3.
He’d also previously denied two counts each of sexual assault, touching minors for a sexual purpose and touching them sexually while in a position of trust or authority.
Those charges allege events in Fredericton involving two young girls, now aged eight and 10 years. One set of charges purport to have occurred between Oct. 1, 2022, and Jan. 1, 2023, and the other between Jan. 1, 2023, and March 1.
There’s a court-ordered publication ban in place protecting the identities of the two girls.
Both cases were back in Fredericton provincial court for a case-management conference Thursday to determine if issues to be explored at trials could be narrowed and if resolutions could be reached between the Crown and defence.
However, such discussions aren’t public.
Following the conference, MacPherson’s trial on the child-porn charges was scheduled for Dec. 3 and 4.
His trial on the sexual-assault allegations was previously scheduled for Feb. 16 and 20.
When the RCMP laid the child-pornography charges last fall, it issued a news release, detailing that its Internet child exploitation (ICE) unit embarked on an investigation in February 2023 following the receipt of information from its National Child Exploitation Crime Centre.
That investigation ultimately led to police securing a search warrant for a Fredericton residence, the RCMP advised at the time, noting officers with the ICE unit and the Fredericton Police Force were involved with that search.
As a result, MacPherson was arrested and released on conditions, and the Fredericton Police Force subsequently laid the sexual-assault and sexual-interference counts ahead of the RCMP’s child-pornography allegations.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.