Article contentThe next day, a girl was walking on Wilson Lake Drive in Middle Sackville at about 11:35 a.m. when a man in a red Elantra started following her. The man eventually got out of the vehicle and began photographing the girl while walking towards her.Article contentA witness intervened and drove the girl to a nearby gas station, where she dropped her off. When the witness returned to the station a short time later, she noticed the man was taking pictures of the girl again. The man then drove away.Article contentLater that day, at about 3 p.m., a woman was swimming at Uniacke Estate Museum Park in Mount Uniacke when she saw a man in the bushes taking photos of her. The woman left the area in her vehicle and the man followed her in a red Elantra.Article contentThe woman tried to evade the man by veering in and out of traffic on highways 101 and 102, but he pursued her vehicle into Bayers Lake Business Park in Halifax before she met up with her fiancé.Article contentArticle contentPolice located the Elantra, unoccupied, in a parking lot in Bedford at about 8 o’clock that night. They arrested Fidgen at a nearby pub, where he worked as a cook and bartender.Article contentFidgen pleaded guilty to four counts of breaching an undertaking during the three incidents but went to trial last December on five charges from the Fall River and Mount Uniacke events.Article contentHartlen gave her decision Jan. 24. She found Fidgen guilty of sexual interference, sexual assault and breaching a peace bond in relation to the Fall River groping and convicted him on charges of criminal harassment and breaching a peace bond from the incident that started in Mount Uniacke.Article contentFidgen, who had 754 days of remand credit, was sentenced the same day. Hartlen stayed the sexual assault conviction before accepting a joint recommendation from lawyers for a sentence of 20 months in jail, considered time served, followed by two years of probation.Article contentArticle contentCrown attorney Mike Blanchard told the court Fidgen’s conduct was “concerning” and “bewildering.”Article content“It required a strong police response,” Blanchard said. “They had three different calls regarding young, vulnerable women who were fearful of what he was doing during those couple of days.”Article contentHe said the offences called for court orders with terms protecting the public. “It’s certainly up to Mr. Fidgen to decide whether he wants to be a productive member (of socety) and not put more people at risk . . . in the future,” he said.Article contentWhile on probation, Fidgen cannot possess firearms or have contact with the victims and another Crown witness. He also cannot be within 200 metres of their homes, schools or workplaces or the Fall River Sobeys and must take part in any counselling deemed necessary by his probation officer.Article contentThe judge granted additional orders requiring Fidgen to provide a DNA sample, register as a sex offender for 20 years, and not have firearms for 10 years.Article contentShe also imposed a three-year order restricting his contact with persons under the age of 16. The order prohibits him from attending public parks, community centres and other places where children are likely to be present, unless he’s accompanied by a responsible adult aware of his convictions, and from working or volunteering in any position of trust or authority over kids.Article content
Convicted sex offender pleads not guilty to touching girl at Dartmouth store, trial set for December
