Estaire fire chief faces sex charges

Gord Hall, chief of the Estaire-Wanup Volunteer Fire Department, will be back in the Ontario Court of Justice on Feb. 13 to answer to 13 charges related to an historic sexual assault investigation.

Hall, 68, is charged with six counts of gross indecency and seven counts of indecent assault on a male. The incidents are alleged to have taken place between 1974 and 1978 at the Bancroft Drive Boys Home.

The home, which closed in 1980, was a group home and detention facility that housed male youths in Sudbury. The victims were all residents.

The Noelville detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police laid the charges earlier this month. Hall didn’t attend court Jan. 30 and was represented at the hearing by lawyer Richard Pharand.

Justice Guy Mahaffy agreed to put the matter over to Feb. 13, with the agreement of Crown Attorney Susan Stothart.

A trial date is expected to be set at the Feb. 13 hearing.