Questions raised about suspect in confinement case
As more details come to light about an alleged case of forcible confinement involving a Nova Scotia teen, tough questions are being asked about one of the suspects in the case.
David James LeBlanc, 47, has a history of sex charges laid against him and Nova Scotia Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie is asking why he wasn’t monitored more closely.
“Young people in particular are victimized when violent people, regardless of their status in the justice system or psychiatric system, are out without leave and are not tracked,” says Baillie. “This has to stop.”
LeBlanc is due in court in November for a preliminary hearing on allegations of sexual assault and making, possessing and distributing child pornography in connection with another case.
He is accused of molesting two young boys in Nova Scotia in 2010.
Justice Minister Ross Landry addressed concerns about LeBlanc today.
“We need to be practical about how we take approaches and not be reacting to what is a very serious incident and let the courts do their job,” he says.
Police are still trying to track down LeBlanc and his partner, 31-year-old Wayne Alan Cunningham.
The pair is charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement after a 16-year-old boy was allegedly held captive at a home in Upper Chelsea, N.S. for about two weeks.
Police believe LeBlanc and Cunningham may be travelling through Ontario and are asking members of the public to watch for a grey 2003 Hyundai Elantra with the license plate FBP 233.
They say one vehicle – a brown 2002 Chevrolet Venture van – was found in Nova Scotia in relation to the case earlier this week.
Police agencies across the country have been notified of the urgency of making an arrest.
Nova Scotians shocked over disturbing details
Residents along Nova Scotia’s South Shore are expressing shock after learning the disturbing details of the case.
“I heard medically he is all right, but the emotional issues he’s going to have will be terrible,” says Bridgewater resident Paul McDonald. “I really hope he gets all the help he needs.”
Police say the boy was held captive at the remote cabin on Faulkner Road for a period of 10 to 14 days before he managed to escape Monday night and ran to a neighbour’s home.
The boy told police he escaped by kicking out a piece of wood nailed across the window.
Alice Arnold tells CTV News she was alerted by a rapid knocking on her door Monday night.
“There was a young man standing on my back porch, saying ‘I have to get in, I wanna come in, I wanna come in,” says Arnold.
Arnold didn’t let the boy in, but she did call 911.
“He said ‘please don’t call the police. They’ll make it worse for me,’’ she explains. “Then he disappeared. That whole encounter might have been 30 seconds, maybe a minute.”
Terry Frauzel was the next person to encounter the teen after he showed up in his backyard, roughly 2.2 kilometres down the road.
“When I came out, I could see he was hiding around the corner,” Frauzel tells CTV News. “He was hiding around the house and I could see he had a hoodie on, but no pants or footwear.”
Frauzel simply thought the boy was suffering from memory loss.
“I said ‘so how can we help?’ and he said ‘first of all, do you have any bolt cutters?’” says Frauzel. “He showed me the chains around his wrists and said he had them around his feet. I looked at them and just lost it.”
His wife quickly went to get the boy some clothes while Frauzel fetched some bolt cutters. He then cut the chains off the boy’s hands and feet.
Frauzel says the boy told them he had been kept captive in a home by two men and that he was terrified he would be killed or sold as a sex slave.
Frauzel says the boy didn’t talk about what went on inside the home, nor did he ask.
Police say the teen was taken to a hospital and is now safe.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl
