TRURO - A Millbrook man under house arrest for sexual assault has been granted permission to tinker in the workshop beside his home.
James Bernard Johnson, 64, of 929 Willow St., will also be permitted to do general maintenance around his property, as opposed to his previous sentencing order, which permitted him to only maintain the property on which his house sits.
On July 13, Johnson received a conditional sentence of two year's less a day for a sexual assault dating to 1967. That included full house arrest for the first 16 months, followed by a curfew for the final eight months and then one year of probation.
Last week, Johnson was in court to request changes to his sentencing order to permit him to cut firewood for native ceremonial events and to work in his workshop.
Johnson was unrepresented during that hearing, however, and those requests were denied. He returned Wednesday with legal counsel who had reviewed his file with Crown Attorney Paul Drysdale.
"I opposed the change last week," Drysdale said. "I think I have to say I probably inadvertently misled the court last week when I said that the issue of him working in the workshop had not been discussed between the Crown and the defence at the time of the original sentencing."
But upon review of the original agreement, Drysdale said, those conditions were indeed included and he added his consent to the requested changes.
