This Ontario student waited years for justice. Now, the accused in her sex assault case won't face trial

WARNING: This story contains graphic language.

Sex assault survivor Rebecca Crane of Lac Seul First Nation north of Sioux Lookout, Ont., is finally able to tell her story — about a court system that allowed her alleged attacker to walk free because he wasn't given a timely trial.

"I yelled at them," recalled Crane of the phone call she received from Kenora-based Crown attorney Mary Anne Mousseau, along with a victim support worker and two police officers, who told her the news. "I was very upset, and then I probably cried the hardest I've ever cried once I was off the call."

Crane, now 29 and a student at Western University in London, Ont., wasn't able to speak to CBC earlier because there was a publication ban on her name, but that was lifted earlier this month.

Women's advocates say other sex assault survivors have also been affected by the Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2016 that's commonly known as the Jordan rule. The decision put limits on the amount of time an accused should have to wait to get their charges heard in court. For crimes considered by the provincial court, the limit is 18 months, while more serious cases considered by higher courts have a time limit of 30 months. 

Crane accuses the original Crown attorney, Elizabeth Hellinga, of bungling the file, and believes it ultimately led to her case being thrown out after the accused filed a Jordan application.

Hellinga did not return an email to CBC News, and the most recent lawyer in Crane's case, Dana Peterson, refused to comment.

"I want to hold them accountable for what happened," said Crane. "I couldn't talk about it publicly while the case was ongoing but now that it's happened, I just want to scream. This is happening. This is still happening."

The defence lawyer, Rachel Wood, said her client was never convicted and "lived under the cloud of suspicion for over 38 months."

"His charter right to be tried within a reasonable time was violated and we remain pleased in the court's decision to enter a stay of proceedings," said Wood.

On Dec. 27, 2014, Crane was out with some friends in her hometown of Sioux Lookout, first at a bar and then at a house party. She was in Ontario on a break from Briercrest Christian Academy in Caronport, Sask., where she was a student at the time.

At the end of the night, Crane said, she and her friends accepted a ride home with a man she recognized from town. He dropped her friends off first, she added.

"I always regret not getting out there," said Crane, who said she was a virgin at the time.

At some point, she said, the man pulled over and began ordering her to perform sex acts.