NL

Donnie Snook not ready to plead on N.L. sex charges

A former pastor was in a western Newfoundland courtroom this morning to face child sex-related charges.

Former western Newfoundland pastor pleaded guilty to child-exploitation charges in New Brunswick

Donnie Snook in a Corner Brook, N.L., courtroom on Aug. 20, 2013. (CBC)

A former pastor was in a Corner Brook courtroom this morning to face child sex-related charges, but he didn't enter a plea.

Donnie Snook's appearance was short, and his case was postponed until Oct. 29, because Snook's lawyer, Dennis Boyle, was unable to attend.

Snook, 41, told the court he and his lawyer are waiting for disclosure evidence from the Crown before entering a plea.

Snook is accused of assaulting a boy while he was a pastor with the Salvation Army in Mount Moriah in the mid 1990s.

Snook now faces two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference involving a boy who was under the age of 14 at the time of the alleged offences in 1995-96.

Snook has been in custody since January after pleading guilty to 46 child exploitation charges in Saint John, New Brunswick, where he was a city councillor.

Those offences date back to 2001 and involve 17 boys as young as five years old, making it one of the biggest sex-abuse cases in New Brunswick's history.

Snook is scheduled to appear in a Saint John court later this month to begin a sentencing hearing on 46 child-exploitation charges.