LALITPUR, NEPAL -- The apparent return to Canada of a Maritime man with a notorious past is leading to many questions, and at this time, very few answers.
CTV News has learned Fenwick MacIntosh has been released from a prison in Nepal and ordered out of the country.
The 75-year-old MacIntosh has been incarcerated in Nepal since December 2014 after he was arrested by police on suspicion of sexually molesting a 15-year old boy.
Prison authorities in Nepal cite MacIntosh’s age as being among the factors for letting him go.
One source in Nepal tells CTV News that, due to health concerns, MacIntosh will be heading to hospital after his return, though the Canadian government wouldn’t confirm or deny that detail.
Word has it that he may be headed to Ontario, if he isn’t there already.
A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada confirms they are aware of a Canadian being deported from Nepal, but wouldn’t provide any more information, citing the Privacy Act.
Canada’s Public Safety department would only say that any Canadian convicted of sex crimes in a foreign country must register with police within seven days of their return to Canada.
In March 2015, MacIntosh was convicted by a judge and given a seven-year sentence behind bars. He was sent to a prison in Lalitpur, a city not far from Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
Prior to his arrest, MacIntosh had been put under surveillance by a self-proclaimed child advocacy group that tracks foreigners it believes are seeking sex with children.
After being arrested, MacIntosh was placed in Nepal’s so-called fast track court system, designed to decrease the length of time victims wait for a case to go before a judge.
In a matter of months, it appeared officials in Nepal had accomplished what took Canadian officials years to do.
MacIntosh had been accused by a number of young men in Canada of similar offences. The first complaint against him came in the 90s and dozens more followed, all alleging offences in the 1970s.
By that time, MacIntosh had already moved to India.
It wouldn’t be until 2007 that the former Nova Scotia businessman was finally arrested on 43 sex-related charges and returned to Canada.
He went through two Canadian trials beginning in 2010, and was eventually convicted of indecent assault and gross indecency against young males.
Those convictions were thrown out after the courts decided it took too long to bring MacIntosh to trial. Once he was free, MacIntosh went to Nepal.
Bob Martin, one of MacIntosh’s victims in Nova Scotia, says he was pleased Nepal had jailed MacIntosh, but understands they didn’t want him dying in their country.
Now Martin is questioning what happens to MacIntosh, and whether he is still a threat. As a survivor of abuse, Martin wonders why the government doesn’t update victims about cases like this.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Bill Dicks.
