WATCH ABOVE: Calgary Police update sexual assault charges against foster parent
CALGARY- A man is facing charges of sexual assault and sexual interference involving two children in foster care, police said Tuesday.
Fortunato Jinon, 46, of Calgary, has been charged with assault, sexual assault and sexual interference with a child under 16 years of age.
The charges date back to Feb. 6, 2015, when an elementary student told her teacher her foster father had sexually touched her on more than one occasion, said police. The young girl also said the man had assaulted a second child in his care.
During the investigation into her allegations, an elementary-aged boy living in the same New Brighton home told police he’d been physically assaulted and shut in a dark room before being put outside in winter weather without clothes.
Calgary Police Service Child Abuse Unit Staff Sgt. Melanie Oncescu said there were six children in total living in the home: four foster children and two biological children. The charges are only related to the two elementary-aged foster children.
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“This foster home is a delegated foster home within the city of Calgary, but it is for First Nations clients,” said Oncescu. She said the children were placed in the foster home in August 2014.
Siksika Family Services removed all foster children from the home when the allegations surfaced and is conducting its own investigation in collaboration with police. The biological children were not removed, but Jinon is only allowed supervised access to them.
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“He was arrested and released with conditions, obviously the important one being not to have contact with children,” said Oncescu, who couldn’t speak to whether or not Jinon was known to police.
Both Jinon and his wife are suspended from providing foster care, said police. The children involved are being provided with supports, programs and resources from Child and Family Services as well as the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre. For more information on child abuse, including how to recognize signs, click here.
Jinon will appear in court on July 2, 2015.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Calgary police at 403-266-1234, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, www.calgarycrimestoppers.org or by texting tttTIPS to 274637.
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