A Greater Sudbury man is facing several assault and other charges following a series of incidents that occurred over the course of a single evening in Massey on Oct. 18.
Officers with the Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police detachment were dispatched to the area at around 8 p.m. that evening after receiving a report of multiple assaults involving young people at a seasonal event in Massey.
“An investigation was initiated and revealed that the same individual had been involved in several disturbances at various locations throughout the Massey area,” OPP said in a news release.
The 39-year-old man is charged with assault (three counts), uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, causing a disturbance and resisting a peace officer.
The man was held in custody and is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Espanola on Nov. 6.
The season event in question is the popular Haunted Trail hosted by the Massey Agricultural Society.
Dianne Emiry, the agricultural society treasurer, told Sudbury.com that the man attended the haunted trail and assaulted one of the teenage volunteers.
“The individual was causing issues in town and was not in a good state of mind when he came to the trail,” she said in an email. “The issues he was having became our issue as he became physical with one of our actors.”
Emiry said the haunted trail event, which continues this weekend, has hired security guards and informed the OPP that the event will be running this weekend.
“The Massey Agricultural Society is a volunteer organization and we value all of our volunteers,” Emiry said. “We do not want any of our volunteers to feel unsafe when helping at our events, which is why we are taking the incident seriously and working to increase ways to protect our volunteers and prevent individuals who may cause problems from entering the trail.”
Last weekend for the Haunted Trail
For more than 10 years, a small group of volunteers hosted the Haunted Trail event as a popular fundraiser in Massey to purchase park equipment. The event has since been taken over by the Massey Agricultural Society after the original core group disbanded, Emiry said.
Today, more than 30 volunteer actors help bring the scary experience to life, with the funds raised going to “support local families and organizations and as well as to support programming offered by the MAS,” Emiry said.
Last year, funds raised allowed the society to donate more than $5,000 to community groups like the Massey Foodbank, high school bursaries, Interchurch Council Free Friday Lunch, school breakfast programs, Senior's Group lunch, Massey and Area Museum, Massey Legion Poppy Fund, and St. John's Ambulance, she told Sudbury.com.
This is the final weekend for the Haunted Trail, with the final dates being tonight, Oct. 24 and tomorrow, Oct. 25. A family friendly hour runs from 6-7 p.m. for small children or those who don’t like a good scare. For the full frightening experience, the Haunted Trail operates from 7-10 p.m. The cost is $5 per person. The event is held at the Massey Fair Grounds. Parking is free.
“Please help us keep our volunteers safe by following trail rules — no running on the trail. no use of substances including alcohol and drugs, no pets, no weapons, no smoking or vaping,” organizers request.
Check out the video below of someone experiencing the full frightening experience that the Massey Agricultural Society shared on its Facebook page.