Crown abandons appeal of Nova Scotia RCMP officer's acquittal on sexual assault charges

The Crown has abandoned its appeal of a Nova Scotia RCMP officer’s acquittal on sexual assault charges.

Const. William (Billy) McNutt, 41, of Lantz stood trial in Amherst provincial court on two summary charges from a July 31, 2019, encounter with a woman in his pickup truck at a beach in Northport, Cumberland County.

The six-foot-eight McNutt joined the RCMP in 2021 after playing professional basketball in Europe.

The woman went to police in July 2024 after seeing media reports that McNutt had been charged with sexually assaulting someone else.

Judge Del Atwood delivered the verdict at the Amherst trial Aug. 5, finding McNutt not guilty on both counts.

“The court finds that the evidence does not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that (the complainant) did not consent to the sexual activity in question,” Atwood said. “An essential key element of each of the charges before the court has not been proven to the required criminal standard.”

Crown attorney Mary Ellen Nurse filed an appeal of the verdict Aug. 20 in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Amherst. In her notice of appeal, Nurse claimed Atwood misapprehended certain facts at trial and incorrectly applied the law to the facts.

The prosecutor wanted a Supreme Court judge to set the acquittal aside, enter convictions and either impose a sentence or return the matter to the trial court for sentencing.

A date had yet to be set for the appeal to be heard when Nurse filed a notice of abandonment in Supreme Court on Oct. 13.

“Based on further review, the Crown concluded there were no grounds for appeal,” Public Prosecution Service spokeswoman JoAnn Alberstat said Tuesday.

McNutt was a member of the East Hants detachment until January 2024, when he was suspended with pay after a civilian member of the RCMP alleged she had been sexually assaulted in early 2023.

RCMP referred the matter to the Serious Incident Response Team for investigation. The independent watchdog agency announced in July 2024 that McNutt had been charged with three counts of sexual assault and single counts of overcoming resistance by choking and uttering threats.

In July 2025, SIRT charged McNutt with a fourth count of sexual assault involving the same woman. SIRT alleged the six offences were committed in Enfield between Dec. 31, 2022, and Feb. 9, 2023, while McNutt was off duty.

Those charges were stayed in Shubenacadie provincial court in May of this year after a judge ruled it had taken too long for the case to get to trial.

McNutt, who is now suspended without pay, still faces a charge of sexual assault from an encounter with a third woman in May 2024. That trial was set for this August in Shubenacadie but was adjourned. Lawyers are due back in court Nov. 2.

The identities of all three complainants are protected by publication bans.