McAdam vigilante victim accused of threatening to use flare gun during sexual assault
A man who was a victim of vigilante justice has been charged with threatening to use a weapon — a flare gun — during a sexual assault.
Blake Scott, 37, has also been charged with assault by way of strangling the same person on May 3 in the southwestern New Brunswick village of McAdam.
Scott was remanded into custody following a bail hearing in Fredericton provincial court on Thursday and is expected to be back in court to enter a plea on June 1.
The name of the victim and details from the bail hearing are subject to a publication ban.
Last June, Billy McGillicuddy hit Scott with a baseball bat after accusing him of looking at his 11-year-old daughter while she was walking through a tunnel along a walking trail in McAdam.
In an incident later that same day, McGillicuddy struck Scott in the head before throwing him to the ground and kicking him.
McGillicuddy then hit Scott twice with a chair before forcing him to strip naked and ordering him to get into his truck.
Scott ran away, still naked, and was let into a neighbour's house, from where he called police.
McGillicuddy pleaded guilty to assault and unlawful confinement and was sentenced last November to 18 months in jail.
McGillicuddy's initial court appearances drew crowds of supporters to the justice building in Fredericton.
McGillicuddy lives in St. Croix but garnered support from McAdam residents, including Mayor Ken Stannix, who said he "wanted to support the individuals who allegedly took the law into their own hands."
Stannix said people in his village were getting frustrated with a rise in property crime, adding that "the criminals are getting away with everything."
Local discontent over petty crime and policing prompted a community meeting with provincial officials and top-ranking New Brunswick RCMP officers, and resulted in the RCMP initiating night patrols in McAdam.
Around that time, Scott said in an interview that he'd been wrongly characterized as a thief. He said he'd been in trouble a few years before for break and enter but served a jail sentence and had not broken the law again.
CBC News asked the RCMP for more information about the charges Scott faces, and in an email, Cpl. Hans Ouellette, a spokesperson, said it would be inappropriate to comment on evidence that may be part of court proceedings.
