By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Trial date set for registered sex offender

Aug 14, 2017 | 12:30 PM

LETHBRIDGE – A trial date has been set for a 32-year old Coaldale man and convicted sex offender, on charges of sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, sexual touching of a person under 16 and abduction of a person under the age of 16.

The Crown had called the case against Trevor Pritchard forward to Monday morning (Aug. 14), as it was originally set to return at the end of the month.

An agent appearing for defence lawyer, Greg White, explained that White wanted to withdraw from the case, and that Mansoor Khan would be taking over.

After expressing concerns over the fact that Pritchard was on to his third lawyer, the Crown noted that they were also becoming worried about the potential for a Jordan application from the defence in respect to delays in the case. They then asked for the matter to be set for trial, with the earliest available dates being in March and May of 2018.

The ‘Jordan decision’ comes from the Supreme Court of Canada, and establishes timelines that trials must be heard by.

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Khan responded by saying that his schedule was already full during those dates, suggesting November of 2018 instead, and saying he was not willing to waive Jordan. He explained that the options provided to him for trial dates were simply too narrow for him to fairly accommodate.

The presiding judge became visibly frustrated, telling the lawyers involved to sort things out and dismissed them from the courtroom until they had a solution.

Upon returning, they suggested a trial next summer, however, the judge quickly noted that it was unlikely they would be granted time to conduct a jury trial during the summer months.

They ultimately compromised, setting the trial to run from Nov. 12-30, 2018, but noting that the Crown will be writing to the Chief Justice, requesting that they be allowed to move the trial into the summer. The judge also stated that Khan should talk to the Crown and explore whether a re-election to trial by judge alone would be possible, as it would make it easier to move the trial up.

Pritchard was arrested and charged on Jan. 18, 2017, for the alleged sexual assault of a 15-year old girl. When Coaldale RCMP released a statement on the matter, they asked anyone with information regarding other offences related to the matter to come forward. Three more alleged victims later came forward, with the Crown saying three are under the age of 16, and one is under 14.

He finished off a 44-month sentence in November of 2013 for the sexual assault of two 13-year old girls, and the Crown noted that if they get a conviction on the current charges, they will be seeking a dangerous offender standing for Pritchard.