Former school principal pleads not guilty to second set of sex offences

A former elementary school principal in Nova Scotia has entered not guilty pleas on two historical sex offences involving a young girl.

Steve Hutchins, 59, has also opted to have the case against him heard in Nova Scotia provincial court.

Hutchins’s lawyer, Don Murray, entered the pleas and made the arrangements for a two-day trial during an appearance in court in Dartmouth on Tuesday morning. Hutchins was not present.

The trial is set to begin on Sept. 12.

The woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Hutchins when she was a young girl told her story to CBC News last year after the charges were announced.

This is the second trial Hutchins is facing. Last month, he pleaded not guilty to a single historical charge relating to a different accuser.

At the time of his January court appearance, that trial was set for January 2025. But the court has since found time for the half-day trial to take place on Oct. 11.

Hutchins was the principal at Seaside Elementary School in Eastern Passage, N.S., until June of last year. That’s around the same time the RCMP opened their investigation into the allegations. He is now retired and free on conditions.