An alleged child sex offender whose trial was postponed last spring will have two days in provincial court in St. John’s at the end of the year.
Adam Oldford, 30, has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexually assaulting a girl under 16 as well as sexual interference, and will go to trial the first week in December.
Oldford’s trial had originally been set to happen last April, but he fired his Legal Aid lawyer just as it was about to get underway, saying he wanted “a real lawyer” instead.
Related stories:
Man charged with child sex offences in St. John’s appears in court
Buckingham told me to get new lawyer, alleged child sex offender says
Oldford told the court he wasn’t satisfied with the representation he was getting from Jason Edwards, and had approached private lawyer Bob Buckingham in the hallway of provincial court earlier that morning for advice. Oldford said Buckingham had advised him to postpone his trial and hire someone else.
A month later the court was told Oldford would be sticking with Legal Aid.
Last August, a Mount Pearl mother took to Facebook to post a warning about a man she said had sent inappropriate online messages to her 13-year-old daughter, having met her in Mundy Pond park in St. John's.
The RNC subsequently issued a public notice saying it had received a complaint about a man in a St. John’s park approaching young teenage girls and attempting to befriend them before trying to solicit sexual favours. Police said he reportedly presented himself as significantly younger than his actual age.
The next day, police announced they had made an arrest in connection with the investigation. Oldford appeared in court the day after that, and was released on bail.
