The trial for a suspect accused of a sexual assault in Port Hawkesbury has wrapped up.
Police say they charged James Darren Peters, 50, of Lower L’Ardoise after a boy, 9, was lured into the bathroom of a business on Paint St. in Port Hawkesbury, forced into a stall, and had his pants pulled down in Aug. 2019.
They say the boy was able to escape and tell a family member.
Peters faces counts of sexual interference, unlawful confinement, sexual assault and assault; he pleaded not guilty to all his charges during an election-and-plea hearing in Nov. 2019.
His trial, which opened with two days in January, finished in Port Hawkesbury Provincial Court Wednesday; the judge is scheduled to deliver a verdict April 6.
Shortly after his arrest, Regional Cadet Support Unit (Atlantic) officials said Peters was a volunteer with the 2842 L’Ardoise Legion Engineering Army Cadets, but had since been suspended.
Peters was also charged following a similar incident in Sydney near the same time as the Port Hawkesbury incident.
He had two counts of abducting a child under 14 dismissed and two sexual assault charges withdrawn in Sydney Provincial Court in January.
Peters also had a charge of possession of child pornography, which was laid in March, dismissed in Port Hawkesbury Provincial Court in December.
Police alleged they found child porn when they searched Peters’ home in Oct. 2019.
