Crown stays charges against Whitehorse man accused of interfering with computer data

The Crown has entered a stay-of-proceedings in the case against a Whitehorse man facing 22 charges related to his alleged interference with the computer data and password of nine businesses, organizations and First Nations.

Fearon Nelson Steele was charged last year with 13 counts of unauthorized use of a computer and nine counts of mischief in relation to computer data. Court documents claimed he'd used a wireless network interface controller — basically, a device that can connect to wireless networks — between October 2018 and May 2020 to capture password information.

Police, at the time, said there was no evidence any personal or business information was stolen.

The case never went to trial. The Crown, during a court appearance on Jan. 3, entered a stay-of-proceedings in the case, effectively ending the prosecution.

The Crown's reasons for entering the stay were not noted on the court file, as is usual practice.

Steele agreed to an order that will see him forfeit a number of items seized during the investigation to the Crown, including several external hard drives and USB sticks, a cellphone and the internal hard drives from a server and laptop.