Nova Scotia Mountie now facing seven charges of sexual assault: police watchdog

Advertisement

Advertise with us

HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's police oversight agency says an RCMP officer facing a series of sexual assault charges has again been charged with the same offence.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Monthly Digital Subscription

$1 per week for 24 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Monthly Digital Subscription

$4.99/week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

No thanks

*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/07/2025 (269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s police oversight agency says an RCMP officer facing a series of sexual assault charges has again been charged with the same offence.

In total, RCMP Const. William McNutt is now facing seven charges of  sexual assault. He was suspended without pay in January 2024.

On Wednesday, the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) released a statement saying it learned in March of an allegation of a sexual assault in Shubenacadie, N.S., in January 2023. Police say the allegations came from a woman known to the officer.

An RCMP epaulette is seen in Edmonton, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
An RCMP epaulette is seen in Edmonton, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

McNutt, 40, was charged with sexual assault on Monday. He is scheduled to appear in provincial court in Shubenacadie on Thursday.

On June 23, the police watchdog said McNutt had been charged with sexual assault involving a woman who alleged she had been sexually assaulted in Shubenacadie by a Nova Scotia Mountie on May 30, 2024.

Meanwhile, the RCMP’s commanding officer in Nova Scotia, Assistant Commissioner Dennis Daley, issued a statement Wednesday saying McNutt remains suspended from the police force without pay. Daley confirmed an internal code of conduct process is underway.

“As I said on June 23, the criminal charges against Const. McNutt are extremely alarming and distressing, and this additional charge is even more so,” Daley said. 

“My senior leadership team and I take all allegations of misconduct very seriously, and the Nova Scotia RCMP is continuing to co-operate fully with SIRT.”

McNutt was suspended in 2024 after separate allegations resulted in three other charges of sexual assault and two other related charges that were laid in July 2024. Those charges relate to an alleged assault in Enfield, N.S., between Dec. 31, 2022, and Feb. 12, 2023.

A trial on those charges is scheduled for Oct. 27 and Oct. 30.

In December 2024, the RCMP in Cumberland County reported that McNutt had been charged with two counts of sexual assault after the Mounties received a report in July 2024 about an alleged sexual assault in July 2019 — two years before McNutt became a police officer. 

The investigation into the alleged crimes in Northport, N.S., was led by the Cumberland County District RCMP.

McNutt’s trial for the alleged offence in 2019 is scheduled for Jan. 8 and Jan. 22, 2026, in provincial court in Amherst, N.S.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2025.

Report Error Submit a Tip

Canada

LOAD MORE