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Opposition, sexual assault group question release of man charged in abuse case
Original Publication Date: September 28, 2012 8:58AM
Publication Updated: January 9, 2025 4:42AM
HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia group that helps sexual assault victims says some people accused of sexual abuse are being released on conditions that are too lax.
Irene Smith of the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre in Halifax says she’s worried the province’s justice system failed in the way it released a man now charged with confining and assaulting a teenage boy.
Smith made the comments as police continued to search for 47-year-old David James Leblanc, who faces charges of forcible confinement and sexual assault.
Police are also looking for 31-year-old Wayne Alan Cunningham, who faces the same charges after a 16-year-old boy was allegedly taken to a home in Upper Chelsea, N.S., held captive and sexually assaulted.
Smith and the provincial opposition say more restrictive conditions should have been imposed on Leblanc when he was released in 2010 pending a hearing on unrelated charges of sexual assault and possessing child pornography.
Court documents show both suspects have previous convictions for break and enter, theft and fraud, among other charges.
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