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The Crown has decided to drop its case against a Manitoba mayor who had been accused of indecently assaulting a child nearly 50 years ago, according to a media report.

Defence lawyer Hymie Weinstein told the Winnipeg Free Press that the case against Ste. Anne Mayor Bernard Vermette was dropped after the Crown reviewed its files and Vermette showed evidence that cleared his name.

Vermette, who is 74, was charged last September after a woman alleged she had been assaulted in 1966 when she was nine years old.

Weinstein said Vermette proved that he never owned the kind of vehicle the woman alleged was the scene of the assault.

He also said Vermette has always denied the allegation and he is relieved at the outcome

Vermette, a married father of three and grandfather to five children, was elected mayor of Ste. Anne in 2006.

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