Sexual assault hearing in Hants County scheduled for November
A sentencing hearing will be held in Windsor County Court in November for a former Hants County man found guilty of 18 historic sex-related charges involving five girls.
James Michael Snow, 62, was on trial before Judge Chris Manning on a total of 41 charges.
Manning delivered the verdict on May 5, convicting Snow on four counts, each of assault and sexual interference, three counts of solicitation of sexual assault, two counts of gross indecency, and some counts of sexual exploitation, incest, attempting to overcome resistance by choking, committing an indecent act and obtaining sexual services from anyone under the age of 18 for payment.
The crimes were committed between 1984 and 1998, primarily in Walton, Hants County, where Snow lived at the time. One of the assaults took place in Halifax in 1988.
The incest allegation concerns Snow’s eldest daughter, Mandy Wood, who did not want her identity protected. There is a publication ban on the identities of the other victims.
The sexual abuse ranged from exposure to attempted intercourse. The victims were between the ages of 4 and 17 when they were harassed.
Snow appeared in Kentville County Court on Friday via video link from the Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Pictou County to set dates for his sentencing.
Crown attorney Rob Kennedy told the court that a sex offender review will not be conducted until September.
With that in mind, Manning booked the sentencing hearing for November 15 and 16. He ordered Snow to cooperate in preparing a presentation report.
In his decision in May, the judge found Snow not guilty of two counts, each of gross indecency and commission of an indecent act, and several counts of assault, sexual exploitation, solicitation of sexual assault and forced confinement. He remained on five charges of sexual assault and two of sexual interference.
Eight other charges were dismissed after the prosecutor announced he was not seeking convictions. Those charges included solicitation of sexual touching on four occasions, assault on two occasions and sexual interference and exploitation on several occasions.
Snow was represented at the trial by Chrystal MacAulay and Giancarla Francis. Ken Greer has since replaced MacAulay.
Last month, Kennedy told The Chronicle Herald he plans to seek more than 10 years in prison for Snow, who has four other convictions for sex crimes against children.
Other beliefs
In 1986, Snow was convicted of solicitation of sexual assault and sentenced to seven months in prison. That offense also happened in Walton.
In 2003, he was sentenced to four years in prison for sexually assaulting a girl in Walton. The sentence also included a lifetime ban from visiting parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, schools and other places where children under the age of 14 are likely to be present.
In November 2017, Snow was convicted of exposure after being seen masturbating in front of a window in his Dartmouth apartment by children sledging in February last year. He was sentenced to a time penalty and three years’ probation.
In June 2022, Snow was found guilty of exposing his genitals to a girl at the Walmart store in Truro in January 2021 and twice violating his release terms on other charges. Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Christa Brothers accepted a joint recommendation from attorneys last August and sentenced Snow to 20 months in prison, deemed to have been served by his time on remand.
