Halifax man gets bail pending appeal of sexual assault conviction

HALIFAX, N.S. — A Halifax man who had intercourse with a 15-year-old girl back in 2015, when he was 24, has been granted bail pending an appeal of his conviction for sexual assault.

Andrew Thomas Stones, 32, stood trial in Dartmouth provincial court last year on charges of sexual assault and sexual interference.

The defence argued that Stones mistakenly believed the girl, whom he had met on a dating app, was 16 and old enough to consent to sex, but Judge Claudine MacDonald ruled he did not take reasonable steps to ascertain her age.

The judge found Stones, a tattoo artist, guilty on both counts last Dec. 7 before staying the sexual interference charge.

Stones was sentenced last month to 30 months in prison and ordered to provide a sample of his DNA for a national databank. The judge also placed him on the sex offender registry for 20 years and prohibited him from having firearms for 10 years after he gets out of prison.

Defence lawyer James Giacomantonio filed a notice of appeal in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal last week. Stones wants the Appeal Court to quash his conviction and replace it with a verdict of acquittal or order a new trial.

Stones claims the trial judge erred by failing to correctly apply the law concerning mistake of age and by unreasonably interpreting his evidence regarding the steps he took to satisfy himself of the age of the complainant.

The notice of appeal also alleges MacDonald erred in failing to provide reasons that were “sufficiently intelligible” on the issue of intent to permit appellate review of the decision, and by misapprehending evidence.

Stones appeared in Appeal Court in Halifax on Thursday, when the Crown consented to his release on a $20,000 bail order with no deposit.

He was ordered to surrender his passport to the court, remain in Nova Scotia, live with his surety – his mother – in Lower Sackville and abide by a 10 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew.

Stones is prohibited from having contact with the complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, and being within 200 metres of her home, workplace or school. He also cannot be around any girls under the age of 16 unless they are accompanied by an adult.

Justice Cindy Bourgeois also ordered him not to have any firearms or possess or consume alcohol or drugs.

Stones’ appeal will be heard by an Appeal Court panel in June 2024.

Met on Tinder

According to the evidence at trial, Stones and the complainant met on Tinder.

After communicating for a couple of days, they decided to meet in person at the movie theatre where Stones was working. He drove the girl to his parents’ home, where she spent the night in his basement apartment.

The pair watched TV and then kissed before Stones asked her if she wanted to go to bed with him. He wore a condom during intercourse and drove her home the next morning.

The complainant reported the encounter to police several years later, and Stones was charged.

At sentencing, the judge noted that in a presentence report, Stones took full responsibility for his actions.

“One night I didn’t ask enough questions,” Stones told the author of the report. “It’s not her fault at all.”

MacDonald said that was “100 per cent accurate. That’s exactly what happened here.”

Stones also stood trial in Halifax provincial last year on charges of sexual assault and common assault, both involving a woman he knew in 2019.

Judge Elizabeth Buckle acquitted Stones on that sexual assault allegation, saying the evidence left her with a reasonable doubt about his guilt. She said she had no jurisdiction to make a finding on the assault charge because it was from an incident that likely happened in Fredericton instead of Halifax.