Nova Scotia woman loses sexual assault case against Mountie due to court delays

A Nova Scotia woman's sexual assault case against RCMP Const. William McNutt was stayed after delays exceeded the Jordan framework's 24-month limit. She now calls for restorative justice access.

Sexual assault case against RCMP officer stayed after Jordan deadline exceeded

A Nova Scotia woman whose sexual assault case against an RCMP officer was thrown out due to court delays says the national framework meant to guarantee timely trials is failing survivors — and that restorative justice should be available as an alternative, cbc.ca reports.

The case centred on RCMP Const. William McNutt, 41. It was stayed before trial and was the first of three criminal cases involving sexual assault allegations against him. CBC News is not naming the complainant due to a court-ordered publication ban.

The woman alleged that in early 2023, McNutt choked her and threatened to rape her if she did not perform oral sex on him.

"I had to make a split-second decision how to get out of this because I'm looking up at this six-foot-eight man who's a police officer in a position of power, essentially threatening to rape me," she said in an interview. "So ultimately I complied with it to get myself out of the situation."

For months afterward, she says, she struggled to come to terms with what had happened. McNutt was eventually charged in July 2024 with sexual assault, choking and uttering threats. He pleaded not guilty, and the allegations have not been tested in court. His lawyer declined to comment.

The woman says the criminal process — which required her to repeatedly recount the alleged assault and have her credibility challenged — seriously affected her mental health, at one point to a degree where it was uncertain whether she could continue.

"It's constantly retraumatizing you and bringing everything back up to the surface … and it's just never-ending. Like it controls your life and it eats you alive."

Trial halted two days before it was set to begin

On May 26, two days before the trial was scheduled to start, Judge Ian Hutchison ruled that McNutt's right to a trial within a reasonable time had been violated. Hutchison cited the Jordan framework, a 2016 Supreme Court ruling that sets a ceiling of 18 months for provincial court cases and 30 months for Superior Court cases. McNutt's case would have exceeded 24 months by the time the trial was due to conclude, and Hutchison issued a stay of proceedings.

"It knocks the wind out of you," the complainant said. "The system's failing, essentially. Like people in my position go through this really gruelling process and then they're just left with essentially nothing."

She says she did not receive any sense of justice through the court process, and that she likely would have chosen restorative justice had it been an option — simply to be able to tell McNutt how his actions had harmed her.

"Just to make them sit there and listen to, you know, you hurt me," she said. "Just to get to say my piece … it just would have given me a bit of my sense of self back."

Nova Scotia moratorium blocks restorative justice in sexual assault cases

Restorative justice is a process designed to address the harm experienced by a complainant. It can involve bringing both parties together to discuss the causes, impacts and circumstances of an incident, and may lead to accountability measures for the accused as well as supports aimed at underlying causes.

Unlike in some other provinces and territories, restorative justice is not available in sexual assault cases in Nova Scotia. The province put a moratorium in place in 2000 following concerns about survivor safety, power imbalances, training standards, screening and community supports.

Jennifer Llewellyn, a law professor at Dalhousie University who specializes in restorative justice, says that while the concerns behind the moratorium remain important, significant work has been done in the fields of gender-based violence and alternative justice since 2000. She argues it is time to reconsider.

"The shame, the alienation, the isolation that comes from being a victim of gender-based violence and sexualized violence is real," Llewellyn said. "And the solution to that comes from being placed at the centre, your needs being placed at the centre of the process that seeks to respond to those harms."

New federal legislation offers partial reform

A new federal law that came into effect across Canada this summer may improve outcomes for some survivors. Bill C-16 requires courts to consider alternatives to staying proceedings when a case approaches its Jordan deadline. It also formally recognizes victims' right to have their interests considered in the timely resolution of matters.

The legislation stops short of mandating restorative justice access, but does give victims a right to receive information about it. Llewellyn reads the law as signalling that the decision to pursue restorative justice cannot be taken away from survivors entirely.

"I think we're in a moment now where Nova Scotia is well positioned … to rethink the moratorium and to think about how to move forward with a restorative pathway for those who choose it," she said.

The provincial Justice Department did not directly answer a question from CBC News about whether Nova Scotia is reconsidering the moratorium. In a written statement, the department said: "We continue to listen to those most affected, including through the Ministers' Table on Gender-Based Violence. This is a complex and important issue, and good public policy is informed by the voices of Nova Scotians, survivors, advocates and community partners."

Since 2016, 23 cases involving sexual assault-related charges in Nova Scotia have been stayed due to delays under the Jordan framework.

Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)