A sexual-assault charge was stayed Tuesday against a young man who had been accused of attacking a teenaged girl at a rave in Pitt Meadows in 2010.
British Columbia's Crown spokesman Neil MacKenzie told a TV station the charge against Colton Ashton McMorris was stayed Tuesday morning because prosecutors didn't think there was enough evidence for a likely conviction.
"The case had been assigned to a very experienced prosecutor who thoroughly assessed the evidence that was available," Mr. MacKenzie told CTV.
Mounties have alleged that the 16-year-old girl was drugged and repeatedly raped during a rave on a rural property in Pitt Meadows, where onlookers snapped photos and later posted them to Facebook. Mounties have said as many as 12 people saw the incident.
There has been one conviction in connection with the incident. A teenage boy was sentenced to 12 months of probation earlier this month after pleading guilty to one charge of distributing obscene material. There are charges pending against another adult, said RCMP Sergeant Peter Thiessen Tuesday.
Sgt. Thiessen added that officers had been expecting the charges to be stayed.
"The Crown ultimately made a decision, they've got difficult decisions to make when looking at these types of files," he said. "We accept their decision and move forward."
With a report from The Canadian Press