Nova Scotia Liberals says youth death highlights lack of anti-bullying actions

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government is being criticized for its approach to anti-bullying legislation after a mother’s allegations that a sexual assault led to her daughter’s suicide.

Leah Parsons says her 17-year-old daughter, Rehtaeh, was pulled off life-support Sunday night after she hanged herself last week.

Karen Casey, the Liberal party’s education critic, says she asked the government to pressure Ottawa last year to make changes to the Criminal Code to address cyberbullying, but the proposal was voted down by the NDP’s majority.

Leah Parsons says her daughter’s life took a turn when she was 15 after she was sexually assaulted by four boys at a home in November 2011.

She says one of the boys took a photo of the alleged assault, and her daughter was subjected to bullying afterward as a result.

Premier Darrell Dexter says he now believes that Ottawa needs to be urged to toughen the Criminal Code to prevent the circulation of such photos.

He also says the government is consulting with the Parsons family on the kind of review it should conduct into the justice system’s handling of the case.