A provincial court judge has committed a former Strait-area businessman to trial on 36 sexual assault-related charges involving six male complainants.
Ernest Fenwick MacIntosh, 64, had been facing a total of 43 counts dating back to the 1970s, related to eight complainants. Judge John Embree ruled there was not sufficient evidence to commit MacIntosh to trial on seven of the counts, but that the rest would stand.
Embree’s decision came following a preliminary hearing that wrapped up in January. Evidence presented at a preliminary inquiry is banned from publication until the criminal charges are resolved. The identities of the complainants are also banned from publication.
Last spring, MacIntosh elected trial by Supreme Court judge alone. He will next appear in Supreme Court in Port Hawkesbury June 5, where a trial date may be set, or when a date to set a trial will be determined, Crown attorney Richard MacKinnon said.
