Former pastor on trial
LINDSAY – Another trial for a former city youth pastor convicted of historical sexual assault in 2015 begins Monday in Lindsay Superior Court of Justice.
Clifton Pelley faces charges – administering a stupefying substance and administering a noxious thing – related to another alleged victim in his previous case who was not part of his nonjury trial, which took place from Oct. 20 to 28, 2014.
The Port Hope man, who operates an epoxy floor installation business he started in 2011, mostly on weekends, was given a 90-day intermittent sentence for sexual assault and gross indecency on April 27, 2015 after being found guilty Feb. 13.
During the trial, a 35-year-old testified to having been sexually assaulted between the ages of 11 and 13 and a 43-year-old testified to having been sexually assaulted when he was 15 and 18.
A publication ban prohibits publishing anything that could identify them.
Pelley’s intermittent sentence amounted to about a year in jail when combined with credit he was given for the amount of time he had already spent behind bars as well as the strict terms of the house arrest he spent four years under.
The new judge-alone trial, which was first scheduled to begin on Dec. 5, 2016 before being rescheduled, is expected to last between seven and 10 days.
The delay resulted from issues between Pelley and his Toronto lawyer, Nadir Sachak, who removed himself as counsel of record at one point last year because he had not received a retainer.
A lawyer was briefly appointed by the court to assist while Pelley was unrepresented.
Proceedings begin at 9:30 a.m. in court room number one.