A trial expected to last five days for Indigenous leader Ed John on sex-related charges dating back more than 45 years will begin on Oct. 4, the B.C. Prosecution Service has confirmed.
It will be held before a jury in B.C. Supreme Court at the Prince George courthouse.
John faces four counts of rape - the term then used for what is now known as sexual assault -alleged to have occurred between March 1 and Sept. 15, 1974 in Prince George, Cluculz Lake and Fraser Lake, and involving one person, whose name is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.
John has pleaded not guilty and chose to have the case heard before a jury.
John is a former leader of the First Nations Summit and former B.C. cabinet minister. He is also a hereditary chief of Tl'azt'en Nation in northern B.C. and a lawyer who holds honorary doctor of laws degrees from the University of Northern British Columbia and the University of Victoria.
