She pressed charges against a Mountie for sex assault, but says court delays robbed her of justice | CBC News

Woman says if restorative justice had been an option, she would have taken it

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.