Halifax man who abused daughter for 3 decades dies before sentencing

A 74-year-old Halifax man convicted in March of sexually abusing his daughter over the course of three decades has died of apparent natural causes before being sentenced for the crimes.

The case was formally concluded Thursday in Halifax provincial court, according to prosecutor Carla Ball. A number of other charges, including breaches of his conditions, were withdrawn.

The man, whom CBC is not naming in order to protect the identity of his daughter, had been held in custody in a provincial jail.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said privacy laws prevented officials from giving specific details about an individual's death in custody.

But an incident report posted to the department's website that didn't identify the man by name said a person in custody died of apparent natural causes on April 22 in Dartmouth General Hospital, where they were being treated for an illness.

In March, Judge Elizabeth Buckle found the man guilty of a number of sex offences for abusing his daughter beginning when she was in her early teens and lasting into her late 40s.

In her decision, she rejected the man's denials at trial of any sexual contact, concluding he "groomed" and manipulated the victim over years, and "exerted coercive control over her by virtue of the father-daughter relationship and their financial interdependence."

Buckle found the man guilty of criminal harassment, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, incest and a number of breaches of his release order.