Crown to rebut MacIntosh testimony

Crown prosecutorshave decided to call witnesses to rebut the testimony ofa man accused of sexually assaulting three boys in Nova Scotia in the 1970s.

Ernest Fenwick MacIntosh took the stand in his own defence Thursday, telling a Port Hawkesbury, N.S.,court that he did have sexual relations with two of his accusers but that the relations were consensual andthat all parties wereover the age of consent at the time.

MacIntosh, 67,faces 26 chargesin connection withincidents thethreecomplainants allege took place decades ago, when they were 12 or younger.

The identities of all three are protected by court order. Two of the men are brothers and the third is a cousin. MacIntosh has been previously identified as a friend of the men's family.

MacIntosh told the Supreme Court of Nova Scotiathat he had relationships with two of the three complainants when they were in their late teens or early 20s.

The Crown cross-examined MacIntosh in an effort to prove the sexual relations occurred during the early 1970s.

MacIntoshsaid he had oral sex with one of the men over a period of five years starting after the man had turned 17 or 18.

MacIntoshsaid he had not had sexual relations with that complainant's brother butthat he had sex with their cousin once when the cousin was 16.

On Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Diane McGrath said the age of consent was 14 at the time but that none of the complainants had consented to any sexual activity with MacIntosh.

Rebuttal witnesses will testify Friday, after whichthe Crown and defence will present their summations.

Defence attorney Brian Casey said MacIntosh's testimony Thursday went well.

"I am very pleased with the way the case has proceeded, and I think that the documentary evidence that we have submitted makes it clear his version of events is correct," Casey said.

Routine abuse

On Monday, a 48-year-old Guysborough County man testified that MacIntosh abused him about 100 times when he was 11 or 12 years old.

The man said that MacIntosh would routinely perform oral sex on him.

On Tuesday, the man's younger brother testified that MacIntosh removed his pants and performed oral sex on him in three separate incidents in the 1970s when he was between the ages of nine and 12.

The case is being heard bya Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge alone.

The first charges against MacIntosh were laid in 1995, but he wasn't arrested until 12 years later, because he had moved to India a year before the first charge was laid.

MacIntosh was arrested in April 2007 near New Delhi, where he worked as a telecommunications specialist for 13 years. He was extradited to Canada two months later.

Hewas convicted of indecent assault in 1982 andof sexual assault in 1983.

MacIntosh faces 36 charges in total, with a second trial yet to come. Two separate trials are being held because the complainants have been divided into two groups of three.