A Portage la Prairie man says he’s still in hiding after he was wrongfully charged with a sex crime by Manitoba RCMP.
Scott Taylor was arrested earlier this month as one of seven individuals accused of luring teenage girls into performing sexual acts for drugs and money.
The problem: Taylor didn’t do it — something police acknowledged more than a week later, in an update to their initial public announcement of the charges, but by then it was already too late.
“I was just making my coffee, and all of a sudden, I looked out the window, and there (were) five police cars at my house,” Taylor told Global Winnipeg.
“I opened the door and they came barging in and arrested me and charged with these terrible crimes…. I didn’t even know. I was in absolute, complete shock about this.”
Taylor, who describes himself as a responsible, law-abiding gun owner, who was planning to visit a local rifle range with friends at the time of the arrest, said police seized his firearms, as well as a computer and a cellphone, and left his house a mess, throwing items all over the floor.
Because of the publication of his name in connection with such a heinous crime, Taylor said he’s been targeted. He said he has received multiple death threats, been assaulted and seen his house vandalized with graffiti referring to him as a pedophile.
“The damage has been done. I can’t understand how they can make such a mess-up of this … how they could just do this and charge somebody who’s completely innocent.
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“I’m afraid to go home. Still, I’m afraid. I’m still in hiding here,” he said. “I’m not in Portage, I’m in hiding, because I don’t feel safe even being at home yet, even after the RCMP put the report out saying that I was not involved in any of these charges.
“I’m absolutely devastated, and my family, my mental health… everything. Words can’t describe what I’m going through right now.”
Taylor said he feels for the victims and their families, but as a victim himself, he wants a formal apology from police. So far, he said, he hasn’t had any contact with RCMP since the incident — although he’ll need to meet with them soon to get his firearms and computer equipment back.
“I want the public to know this could happen to anyone,” he said. “Any innocent person here, this could happen to.
“And I hope that this is a message for the RCMP that you just can’t falsely accuse somebody of these serious crimes — you’ve got to do the investigation before you charge people.”
For their part, police say they followed all appropriate steps during the investigation, and that all of the information they had at the time supported the charges and the search of Taylor’s home.
“In any investigation, our responsibility is always to find the truth,” Manitoba RCMP said in a statement Wednesday.
“We are bound equally to hold people accountable when a crime has been committed, and to clear people when they are determined through investigation to have no involvement.
“As the investigation progressed, investigators determined one of the accused was not involved. Immediate steps were taken to have charges stayed, and to inform public and the media.”
Police also said they haven’t received any reports of assault or vandalism from Taylor.
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