HALIFAX - A Cape Breton man convicted of sexually abusing boys decades ago has been acquitted of all of the charges against him because of the long delay in bringing him to trial, a judge ruled Thursday.

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal found that Ernest Fenwick MacIntosh was not brought to trial in a reasonable time after he was extradited from India in 2007 to face the charges that surfaced in 1995 and dated back to the 1970s.

Justice Duncan Beveridge overturned all of the convictions, finding in his 62-page decision that MacIntosh's "right to be tried within a reasonable time was infringed."

Brian Casey, MacIntosh's lawyer, said he was pleased with the decision but that it came at a great price to his client.

"Of course, we're delighted with the acquittals," he said.

"It's too bad that it's taken four-and-a-half years of Mr. MacIntosh's life and his life savings to get here when the matters shouldn't have proceeded in this fashion in the first place."

MacIntosh was found guilty in July 2010 on 13 of 26 charges of indecent assault and gross indecency -- almost 15 years after the allegations surfaced.

MacIntosh, who's in his late 60s, was sentenced to four years in prison in his first trial, but given credit for two years' time served.

He was later sentenced to 18 months in jail on separate sex-related charges involving other boys in the 1970s.

More than a decade had passed by the time the RCMP received complaints from men alleging they were sexually abused by MacIntosh as boys in Cape Breton. By the time the men came forward, MacIntosh had left Canada to set up a business and residence in India.

During the second trial, MacIntosh testified he had consensual sex with two of the men he was accused of abusing when they were teens. The men said the sexual contact was not consensual.

One of the men said he was about 16 or 17 years old at the time, while the other man said he was 15.

MacIntosh denied having any sexual contact with the third complainant, who testified he was about 10 when MacIntosh touched him inappropriately.

The Crown was not immediately available for comment.