A special prosecutor has approved 29 sex-related charges against former Burns Lake mayor Luke Strimbold.
The count is up from 24 Strimbold originally faced prior to the appointment of Vancouver lawyer Leonard Daoust as special prosecutor in March.
Daoust declined to approve one further charge sworn by the RCMP as he concluded the charge assessment standard was not met, the B.C. Prosecution Service said in a statement issued Thursday.
Broken down, Strimbold faces 11 counts of sexual assault, 11 counts of sexual interference of a person under 16 and seven counts of invitation to sexual touching under 16. They involve a total of seven complainants.
The charges will be pursued via direct indictment which avoids the requirement of a preliminary inquiry and allows the matter to proceed directly to trial.
Strimbold's first appearance on the direct indictment is scheduled for Oct. 1.
"As this matter remains before the court, neither the BCPS nor the Special Prosecutor will be making any further comment," BCPS said in the statement.
