Achi news desk-
Former mayor of a township just outside of Cornwall, Ont. – who resigned six months after he was accused of sexual assault and child attraction in 2021 – died last month.
According to an online obituary, Frank Prevost died of cancer on March 9. He was 56 years old.
In the summer of 2021, the Ontario Provincial Police charged Prevost, then 53 and the mayor of South Glengarry, with sexually assaulting a man over several years, as well as three counts of child seduction stemming from an undercover police operation .
He was found guilty of the charge of sexual assault in 2023 and had been in the process of appealing.
The charges of child attraction were still winding their way through the court at the time of his death.
Prevost was also charged in February 2022 with violating a condition of his release order. He had been ordered not to use the internet or similar communication services to access illegal content, social media, dating websites, chat rooms or forums.
Trials had been scheduled for the two outstanding cases, court records show, but Prevost’s health had been declining.
“They could not proceed because he was unable to attend court or participate in a trial,” his lawyer Mark Ertel said in an email.
All charges against Prevost were withdrawn at the request of the Crown on April 4.
Prevost’s death was first reported by Cornwall Newswatch.
Notice to cease appeal
In July 2023, Ontario Court Justice Diane Lahaie found Prevost guilty of sexually assaulting someone between 2018 and 2021 in Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, according to court records.
In November, Prevost was sentenced to four years in prison, his name was added to the sex offender registry, and he was ordered to submit his DNA, among other orders.
He and his lawyer launched an appeal the same month. On November 8, the court granted Prevost bail pending a hearing on the matter.
Prevost died before the hearing could take place, the court confirmed.
A notice to cease the appeal has been filed and is being processed, a court spokeswoman wrote in an email Monday.
After the first charges were published, Prevost took a six-month unpaid leave as mayor of South Glengarry and was sacked as warden of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
He announced his resignation after those six months had passed.
Lyle Warden was promoted from deputy mayor to acting mayor. The current Mayor of South Glengarry Lachlan McDonald was elected in 2022.
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The post Former Mayor appeals sexual assault conviction dies of cancer – CBC.ca appeared first on Canada News Media.
