Charges of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and distributing child porn have been stayed against a Biggar man.
The Crown stayed the charges against Ryan Sims in North Battleford Provincial Court.
There is a difference between having charges withdrawn or stayed. When the Crown withdraws charges they discontinue prosecution and those same charges can never be brought back. But when the Crown stays the charges this means the charges can still be “brought back to life” and the person could be prosecuted again on those same charges.
Sims was charged earlier this year with sexual assault, sexual exploitation, making sexually explicit materials available to a child, transmitting or distributing sexually explicit material to a child, and touching a child for a sexual purpose. The charges were stayed on Aug. 4.
The Crown doesn’t have to give the court a reason why the charges are being stayed. Sometimes the Crown stays charges if witnesses are no longer co-operating, which would put a trial in jeopardy. The Crown then stays the charges and this keeps the actual criminal charges “live” in case the Crown wants to proceed again. The Crown has one year from the day the charges were stayed to bring them back but this rarely happens.
