CROWN STAYS SEX CHARGES AGAINST GRAY MAN

Charges have been stayed against a 42-year-old man whose presence in the community of Gray had sparked concerns among some residents last year.

“I want the people of Gray to know I’m not the person painted out to be,” Nathan Jarvis Dueck told the Leader-Post in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Dueck said he felt it important that residents know “that they ’re safe. And they don’t need to worry.

“I’m not the pedophile I’ve been painted out to be,” he added.

This week in Regina Court of Queen’s Bench, the Crown issued a stay of proceedings on two outstanding sex offences, as had been done earlier with a third one. Those charges, involving one child complainant, dated back to 2016. The Crown took stock of the case after a preliminary hearing, and opted to stay the charges rather than proceed to trial. The prosecutor involved in the case was not available for comment Thursday.

Court documents simply say the Crown is “unwilling now to prosecute further Nathan Dueck.”

In addition, last year two counts alleging breaches of recognizance conditions, under which he was placed in connection with those charges, were also stayed, effectively bringing the proceedings to an end.

In February last year, some residents had expressed concerns to the Leader-Post and anger against the justice system after Dueck was granted bail with regard to his charges and returned to the community, where he resides with his family near a home daycare. In the bail decision, it notes Dueck “adamantly denies any involvement” in the charges he was then facing.

Dueck had previously been convicted, in December 2009, of sexually assaulting a 17-yearold girl, for which he received a prison sentence. On appeal, the conviction was upheld but the sentence was reduced to three years and three months.

In opting to grant bail back in December 2016 following the breach charges, the judge noted: “Since that conviction, the accused has not been in difficulty with the law. He completed his parole; there were no violations of his release conditions; and he is completing, without incident, his time as being registered on the national sex offender registry.”