LOWES SEX ASSAULT CASE: After 38 proceedings, a potential conclusion?

Mark Evans, lawyer for Fonthill butcher Richard Lowes, was back in a Welland courtroom on Friday, November 10. It was the 38th court appearance in the matter stemming from March of 2021, when Lowes was charged with three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference with a person under the age of 16.

Evans told the court that he had a CPT (Crown pre-trial meeting) with Assistant Crown Prosecutor Stephanie Ford the previous day, and that there was a “resolution, in principle” in place. Evans requested that the matter be adjourned to December 1 at 9 AM, “at which point we should have everything worked out.”

The request was granted by Justice of the Peace R. J. Whalen, who commented that the case was “a little long in the tooth,” a reference to the delays which have stretched the proceedings to two years and eight months.

A court-ordered publication ban is in place, prohibiting the release of names of the victims and other details. Lowes, 67, owns and operates the Country Corner Market, at Quaker Road and Line Avenue in Fonthill.