The family of a Kelowna, B.C., girl who reported being sexually assaulted at an area equestrian centre is calling for accountability and change when it comes to releasing offenders into the community.
Taylor Dueck, a 29-year-old repeat sex offender, was arrested on Feb. 9 for charges of invitation to sexual touching of a person under 16 and breach of probation. In a statement released this week, the family of the alleged child victim said they’re facing a tidal wave of emotions.
“There is fear, anger, and deep sorrow. Fear for our children’s safety, anger at the system that failed to protect them, and profound sorrow for the innocence lost. Our focus is now on how to best support our daughter through this difficult time,” reads the statement.
“But in the midst of this darkness, there is also a glimmer of hope…. Let us unite in our grief and anger, channeling these emotions into action. Let us demand accountability from those responsible and advocate for the safety and well-being of our children. Together, we can make a difference.”
The family wants to see more transparent communication between government agencies, law enforcement and the public regarding the presence of convicted sex offenders in communities.
“There must be proactive measures in place to ensure the safety of our children and vulnerable populations,” the family wrote.
“We are disturbed by the injustice of having a convicted sex offender like Taylor Dueck in our community without any warning to the public. This situation highlights a crucial flaw in our justice system that must be addressed.”
Lower Mainland RCMP previously issued a warning about Dueck under the Privacy Act of Canada because he had been deemed a high risk to reoffend sexually. Police said at the time that he posed a risk to the safety of female children under the age of 18 years old.
In Kelowna, RCMP did not issue a public interest disclosure, saying the threshold had not been deemed to have been met by the agency with “the best and most recent knowledge of the subject.”
“While we cannot speak for other agencies, the BC RCMP has been very proactive with issuing a PID when we become aware of a person’s release into one of our communities,” Cpl. Michael Gauthier said in a statement.
“I can confirm that a PID was sought prior to his release in Kelowna, however, the threshold was not met in this case based on the totality of the circumstances.”
What agency may have made that determination remains to be seen. The Parole Board of Canada twice denied Dueck release from prison when serving time for a similar incident.
In an October 2022 decision, the board pointed out that Dueck had been on some form of court-ordered supervision or had been serving a jail sentence exclusively for offences involving sexual violence, without any real break, for nearly the previous nine years.
At that time, a psychological risk assessment was completed and Dueck was found to be “well above average risk for future sexual offending.” The assessor, in that case, said Dueck could reoffend at any time if he came across a female, of any age, he viewed as “weaker or easily manipulated/controlled.”
What changed enough that a community warning was not forthcoming remains to be seen but on Wednesday, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said he was “very angry over what has happened.” In turn, he has ordered an investigation and full accounting of what took place, involving all provincial agencies and federal agencies and officials that were involved in the situation.
“I want to ensure that there were not systems failures,” Farnworth said.
“I want to ensure that everything that should have been done was done because quite frankly … this should not have happened and I want to make sure that it never happens again.”
Kevin Falcon, leader of the B.C. United, however, placed blame on the NDP government, describing the incident as heartbreaking.
“This government neglected to notify the community that there was a dangerous pedophile like this in their presence and I have to tell you, as a parent of an 11-year-old myself, to see a young girl like that victimized by a pedophile like this sickens me.”
He said he’s tired of hearing the premier stand up and talk about how white-hot angry he is every time some incident like this happens, while nothing seems to change.
“Frankly, it’s just totally unacceptable,” Falcon said.