A Nova Scotia man accused of sexual offences against two children has had his charges stayed due to excessive delays in proceedings, prompting the children’s mother to call the process “an abhorrent waiting game.” While the trial wrapped up in Dartmouth provincial court in October 2021, a verdict was never handed down because the original trial judge went on a leave of absence. “You get to a stage where a victim has done the right thing.
They have come forward. They have entrusted the police. They have entrusted the court and the court does not hold true and do their job,” the children’s mother said. “There was no urgency brought to this case, and there should have been.” Global News is protecting the person’s identity due to a publication ban.
In a decision released Monday, Judge Bronwyn Duffy said she was “wholly satisfied” the Crown did what they could to prioritize the case and that the defence “cannot be faulted,” but that there was “no easy answer to this quandary.” Brandon William McNeil, 29, had pleaded not guilty to two counts each of sexual exploitation, sexual interference and sexual assault.
It was alleged the incidents happened between Feb. 11 and 27, 2021, when the children were ages six and nine. A trial was held in Nova Scotia Provincial Court in July, August and September of that year.