Sexual assault charge stayed against Folk on the Rocks concertgoer

Crown attorneys are not proceeding with a sexual assault charge against a man accused of having inappropriate contact with another concertgoer at Yellowknife's Folk on the Rocks festival last July.

The charge against Nathan Round was stayed in Yellowknife court on Wednesday after the Crown decided it did not have a reasonable prospect of convicting Round.

In a news release issued by Round's lawyer Peter Harte, Round expressed relief at the decision.

"There was a whole bunch of people there all pressed together dancing. I don't know what happened to the complainant, but I do know that I had zero contact with her," Round is quoted in the release.

Case raises concerns

Witness statements were provided even before a trial date was set, in what Harte called "a relatively unusual step." The Crown decided the prosecution should not continue after reviewing the case file with the investigating officers.

Harte told CBC News he provided the RCMP with witness statements made by people who were in the crowd near Round and who did not see him touching anyone inappropriatey.

"One of the concerns is, in a situation where there's a huge crowd, being certain that you've identified the person who actually was the one who is responsible for the inappropriate contact," he said.

"My hope would be that as these issues and the importance of respecting people's integrity end up on the radar to an increasingly greater extent, that there just won't be a problem like this in the future."

Accused agrees to stay away from complainant

Round has agreed to the terms of a peace bond forbidding contact with the complainant.

"Whatever happened to her, I am sure she was pretty freaked out about it all," said Round in the release. "I wanted to respect her privacy."

The Crown can restart the prosecution if more information becomes available, "but it is very rare that such a step is taken," according to the release.

The alleged assault was one of three reports of sexual assault at the festival made to the RCMP. One of the other two files was closed without charges, while the other was still under investigation as of October.