Serial sex offender faces new charges involving youngster

Donald Duane Bartlett has a long criminal record over the past 29 years involving sexual assaults of children ranging from babies to age 11.

The 50-year-old Dartmouth, N.S., man now faces more charges of sexually assaulting a young person.

On Wednesday, Halifax police announced they have charged Bartlett with 12 counts of sexual assault and 12 counts of sexual interference that are alleged to have occurred between 1986 and 1992 in Dartmouth.

They released few details about the case and would not say whether the alleged victim was male or female, or how old the person was at the time. They did say the suspect and the victim were known to each other.

In August, Halifax police issued a public warning that Bartlett, considered a high-risk sex offender, was moving to the Halifax area after being released from prison.

Parole board documents said the man's last conviction in 2015 involved his use of an internet chat line to engage in a conversation with another man where the two plotted to sexually assault children, from infants to 10-year-olds. The offences occurred in Alberta in 2012.

Bartlett's criminal record dates back to 1990. That year, he sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl whom he was babysitting.

In 1998, he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and to sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl he met at a lake, followed into a bush and touched above her clothing. That same year, Bartlett told police he had sexually assaulted another girl while she slept.

He also repeatedly sexually assaulted the young daughter of a woman he met online in 2000. Those incidents happened while Bartlett was babysitting the child and the mother was at work. The girl was between age eight and 10.

Lacks remorse or empathy

In 2002, Bartlett moved to another country and did not tell local authorities that he was a registered sex offender in Canada. He was deported back to Canada two years later.

In 2005, he was convicted of another sexual assault and invitation to sexual touching.

The board noted that Bartlett minimizes his actions, lacks remorse or empathy and does not understand how his actions impact others.