Review into police and Crown handling of Rehtaeh Parsons case expected in fall

HALIFAX — A former Ontario chief prosecutor says his review of how police and prosecutors in Nova Scotia initially handled the Rehtaeh Parsons case should be done in the fall.

In an update on his review, Murray Segal says he has met with members of the province’s Public Prosecution Service, Parsons’ family and police and all have been forthcoming.

The provincial government ordered the review in August 2013 but it was delayed until legal proceedings involving two men charged in Parsons’ case concluded.

Police charged the men with child pornography offences just four days before Segal was appointed to lead the review.

A 20-year-old man pleaded guilty last November to distributing a sexually graphic image of Parsons, who was 15 years old at the time of the offence.

Another 20-year-old man pleaded guilty to making child pornography by taking a photo of the accused having sex with Parsons, who was taken off life-support after attempting suicide in 2013.

Both men were youths at the time of the offence and were charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Parsons’s family alleged she was sexually assaulted in November 2011 and bullied for months after a digital photo of the alleged assault was passed around her school.

Police said they looked into the allegations of sexual assault and an inappropriate photo, but concluded there weren’t enough grounds to lay charges after consulting with the prosecution service.

The child pornography charges were laid after Parsons died.