Elvis impersonator awaits sentencing on Halifax assault charge

A Halifax-area Elvis Presley impersonator has pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault in connection with an encounter with a woman in downtown Halifax on July 1, 2022.

Raymond Daniel Clyke, 54, of Waverley was charged with sexual assault after allegedly touching the woman’s buttocks without her consent.

Clyke pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault charge in October 2022. After a pair of adjournments, he was supposed to stand trial in Halifax provincial court last month but instead accepted responsibility for the lesser offence of assault.

Judge Christine Driscoll ordered a presentence report on Clyke and scheduled his sentencing hearing for late January.

“At present, there is no joint position on sentencing,” Crown attorney Stephen Anstey said an email this week.

Clyke was arrested by Halifax Regional Police the day of the incident and released on an undertaking to have no contact with the complainant. The woman’s identity is protected by a publication ban.