Colchester County man pleads not guilty to abducting child
A Colchester County man will stand trial a year from now on a charge of child abduction.
Jessie Wayne MacPhee, 31, of Lanesville, near Stewiacke, pleaded not guilty during a recent appearance in Truro provincial court.’
Judge Rosalind Michie scheduled MacPhee’s trial for Oct. 10, 2024.
MacPhee is charged in the alleged abduction of a one-year-old girl that triggered an Amber Alert in Quebec on June 7.
The alert went out after Colchester County RCMP received a report from the Quebec provincial police force about a man who had been spotted with a child about 70 kilometres from Trois-Rivières, Que.
Police said the man had stopped at a gas station in the area but could not pay for the fuel. A gas station attendant took a photo of the child and the car, which had a Nova Scotia licence plate.
RCMP officers then visited a home on Stewiacke Road in West St. Andrews, Colchester County, and confirmed the child was not there.
Mounties discovered the child, who is related to the man, had been taken from the home, prompting the Amber Alert.
About 45 minutes later, the man and the little girl were found safe in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.
MacPhee was initially held in custody in Quebec but was transported to Nova Scotia to face the abduction charge. He was granted bail June 12.
According to the bail order, MacPhee cannot have contact with the child unless it is authorized by a “court of competent jurisdiction” or is through her mother. He must remain in Nova Scotia and check in with the Bible Hill RCMP detachment every Friday.
