Trial dates in February 2019 have been set for a former student support worker with the Halifax Regional School Board (HRSB) facing a sexual assault charge involving a teenager.
The allegation against Blake William Jackson, 50, of Beechville, N.S., has not yet been proven in court.
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Halifax Regional Police (HRP) say they received a report on Feb. 16, 2016, alleging a sexual assault that took place on Dec. 15, 2015.
“Sometime after 11:30 a.m., a 48-year-old man was in a parked vehicle with an 18-year-old woman known to him in the area of Robie and Merkel Streets in Halifax,” said Const. Carol McIsaac in a statement.
“The victim states that she was sexually assaulted at this time in this location.”
According to court documents, the alleged victim was a student, and the incident was reported to the school in January 2016. The name of the school cannot be reported because there is a publication ban protecting the identity of the victim.
McIsaac says Jackson was arrested on March 19, 2016, when he turned himself into police at HRP headquarters.
The school board confirms Jackson was employed by the board from 1997 until the fall of 2016.
In a statement, HRSB spokesperson Doug Hadley says the safety of students is the board’s top priority and that “any time we receive an allegation of employee misconduct we take it very seriously, particularly where student safety could be at issue.”
“I can confirm that Blake Jackson has not been an employee of the HRSB since the fall of 2016,” Hadley said.
“I cannot provide further details as it is a personnel matter and we do not discuss the circumstances around a former employee’s departure.”
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Police say they are not aware of any other victims at this time.
A trial by judge alone at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax has been scheduled for Feb. 4-7, 2019.