Former owner of Needle Vinyl Tavern charged with sexual assault

A former co-owner of the now-closed Needle Vinyl Tavern music venue in Edmonton has been charged with sexual assault.

James Leder, 37,faces one count of sexual assault relating to an allegedincident on March 10, 2017. The charge was confirmed by Edmonton Police Service and the EdmontonCrown Prosecutors Office.

Brittany Rudyck, who had worked at the Needle as its social media manager, filed a complaint with police on Nov. 22 about Leder.

Rudycksays the officer handling her file informed her just before the Easter long weekend that the chargewas being laid.

"I kind of needed the officer to repeat it because it felt really surreal, like I didn't really grasp it at first," Rudyck saidThursday.

"I feel a lot of women, and people in general, don't get to experience this kind of feeling so soon after they come forward with a similar complaint."

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Lederwas one of three co-owners of The Needle.

The popular Jasper Avenue nightclub and live music venue closed in November,shortly after Rudyckwent public about concerns at the venue in a Facebook post.

In the Facebook postpublished Nov. 19, Rudyck said multiple female employees approached the owners after hearing about a potential new hire whohad an alleged reputation of sexual harassment at other city venues.

Musical acts began refusing to play the venue, which never re-opened.

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Rudyck said the chargeagainst Lederhascaused her to relive some of the emotions of last November.

"But mainly," she added, "I do feel it'sa victory for survivors, to show that we can speak out and hopefully more cases will be taken seriously like this one."

Change in the industry

Since going public with her alleged experience, Rudyck has been working to set up a support networkfor hospitality industry workers who feel unsafe in their workplaces.

"I've been speaking to a lot of people in the hospitality industry... inmusic venues, trying to figure out what kind of policies are in place right now for keeping people safe," she said.

Leder is scheduled to make a first court appearance on April 24.None of the allegations against James Leder has been proven in court.