Editor’s note: This story includes details of an alleged sexual assault and might affect those who have experienced sexual violence.
A Nova Scotia woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by an RCMP officer says the national framework intended to ensure timely trials is failing some survivors — and that alternatives to criminal trials, such as restorative justice, should be an option.
The case involving the officer she accused, RCMP Const. William McNutt, 41, was recently thrown out due to delays in the justice system. It was the first of three criminal cases involving allegations of sexual assault against McNutt.
CBC News is not naming the woman because of a court-ordered publication ban on her identity.
The woman alleged that in early 2023, McNutt choked her and threatened to rape her if she did not perform oral sex on him.
“I had to make a split-second decision how to get out of this because I’m looking up at this six-foot-eight man who’s a police officer in a position of power, essentially threatening to rape me,” she said in an interview. “So ultimately I complied with it to get myself out of the situation.”
She says for months afterward, she struggled to come to terms with what happened. Eventually, in July 2024, McNutt was charged with sexual assault, choking and uttering threats.
McNutt pleaded not guilty, and the allegations have not been tested in court. McNutt’s lawyer declined a request for comment.
The woman says the criminal justice process — which involved retelling and reliving the alleged assault and having her credibility questioned by McNutt’s lawyer — affected her mental health to the extent that at one point, it was unclear whether she would be able to carry on with the process.
“It’s constantly retraumatizing you and bringing everything back up to the surface … and it’s just never-ending. Like it controls your life and it eats you alive.”
Then, on May 26, two days before the trial was set to begin, the process abruptly came to a halt.
Judge Ian Hutchison ruled that McNutt’s right to a trial within a reasonable amount of time had been violated, citing a 2016 Supreme Court ruling known as the Jordan framework. It stipulates that criminal trials must be completed within 18 months for a provincial court and 30 months for a Superior Court.
Hutchison issued a stay of proceedings, saying McNutt’s case would have gone on for more than 24 months by the time the trial was scheduled to end.
“It knocks the wind out of you,” the complainant says. “The system’s failing, essentially. Like people in my position go through this really gruelling process and then they’re just left with essentially nothing.”
“It seems very broken.”
The woman says she does not feel she got any justice through the court process, and that if restorative justice had been an option, she likely would have taken it.
“Just to make them sit there and listen to, you know, you hurt me,” she says. “Just to get to say my piece … it just would have given me a bit of my sense of self back.”
Restorative justice is a process that aims to address the harm caused to a complainant, and sometimes involves bringing together the complainant and accused to communicate about the causes, impacts and circumstances of the incident. The process can lead to accountability measures for the accused and supports to address the underlying causes of the incident.
But, unlike in some other provinces and territories, restorative justice is not available in sexual assault cases in Nova Scotia.
The province implemented a moratorium in 2000 after hearing concerns about survivor safety, power imbalances, appropriate training, screening and community supports for participants.
Jennifer Llewellyn is a law professor at Dalhousie University who specializes in restorative justice.
Llewellyn says while the concerns that led to the moratorium should be front of mind, a lot of work has been done in the fields of gender-based violence and alternative justice since the moratorium came into effect, and it is time to make restorative justice available to survivors of sexual violence.
“The shame, the alienation, the isolation that comes from being a victim of gender-based violence and sexualized violence is real,” Llewellyn says. “And the solution to that comes from being placed at the centre, your needs being placed at the centre of the process that seeks to respond to those harms.”
A new bill that came into effect across Canada this summer could improve options and outcomes for survivors of sexual assault. Bill C-16 mandates courts to consider alternatives to staying proceedings when a case comes up against its Jordan deadline.
It also explicitly gives a right for victims to have their interests considered in the timely resolution of matters.
While it stops short of saying victims must have access to restorative justice options, it says victims have a right to get information about restorative justice.
Llewellyn says her reading of the legislation is that “we can’t take that decision away from them entirely in all cases.”
“I think we’re in a moment now where Nova Scotia is well positioned … to rethink the moratorium and to think about how to move forward with a restorative pathway for those who choose it,” she says.
The Justice Department did not directly answer a question from CBC News about whether the province is reconsidering the moratorium.
“We continue to listen to those most affected, including through the Ministers’ Table on Gender-Based Violence,” a statement said.
“This is a complex and important issue, and good public policy is informed by the voices of Nova Scotians, survivors, advocates and community partners. We continue to consider these perspectives as part of our ongoing work in this area.”
Since 2016, 23 cases of sexual assault-related charges in Nova Scotia have been stayed due to delays and the Jordan deadline.
Nova Scotia Justice Minister Scott Armstrong was not made available for an interview. A department spokesperson sent CBC News a statement attributed to him that said reducing delays in the justice systems is a “top priority.”
According to the statement, the province has taken steps to ensure matters proceed in a timely manner, including adding public prosecution service staff to help reduce court backlogs, creating a bail court to free up capacity in courtrooms for trials, and modernizing courts through virtual appearances and courtroom technology.
“Progress is being made and we know there is more work to do to make sure Nova Scotians have a timely, fair and accessible justice system,” the statement says.
The woman whose case was stayed says more change is needed to allow complainants to feel that they received justice.
“When you don’t get that, it puts you right back in that place where you were in that vulnerable position where someone’s hurting you and you don’t get to have a say,” she says. “You don’t get to choose what you’re doing or how you’re responding to it. You’re just surviving.”
No appeal was filed in the woman’s case.
McNutt was acquitted of sexual assault charges in a case involving a second complainant. An appeal has been filed, and the case is next due in Amherst Supreme court on Nov. 4.
Another case, involving a third complainant who alleges McNutt sexually assaulted her, is scheduled in Shubenacadie provincial court on Oct. 19. He has pleaded not guilty.
McNutt has been suspended without pay from his role at the RCMP pending the outcome of the criminal trials and an internal code of conduct process.
If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada database.
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