30-day assessment ordered for Lower Sackville man

A Lower Sackville man facing sex charges and multiple counts of criminal harassment has been ordered to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment.

Christopher Wayne Lloyd Dart, 28, was scheduled to seek bail Wednesday when he appeared in Dartmouth provincial court by video from jail, but a Crown attorney asked that an assessment be performed first.

Dart is charged with sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching involving someone under the age of 16, and 10 counts of harassment.

He was free on conditions on three harassment charges but the Crown opposed his release after he was arrested last week on nine new charges.

The first harassment offence was allegedly committed between March 2019 and September of this year. Dart was subsequently charged with two counts of harassment, for incidents between February and June of this year.

The sexual offences and the rest of the harassment offences are alleged to have occurred Sept. 15.

Prosecutor Bernie Thibault said a forensic psychiatrist who met with Dart felt a longer assessment was needed.

Thibault said the doctor wants to assess whether Dart was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the alleged offences that would have rendered him not criminally responsible for his actions. There's no indication that Dart is mentally unfit to stand trial, the Crown attorney said.

Defence lawyer Billy Sparks said Dart was consenting to the Crown's request.

Judge Alanna Murphy ordered the assessment and remanded Dart to the East Coast Forensic Hospital until Jan. 22, when he's scheduled to appear in court again by video.