REGINA – RCMP say sexual assault charges are pending against a former employee of the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge in Maple Creek, Sask.
Cpl. Mel Zurevinsky, with RCMP media relations, confirmed the male was employed at the lodge. He also said RCMP received two assault complaints from the lodge, one from two years ago and another one “recently.”
The lodge is a multi-level security facility for female First Nations offenders.
Cpl. Zurevinsky said the charges have been laid out in a document but have not yet gone before the court.
RCMP have not released the name or age of the man. They also did not confirm whether the complainants were female.
Kim Pate, national director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, said she is planning to write to Public Sector Integrity Commissioner Joe Friday and to Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, to confirm whether other actions have been taken or if an investigation is still going on.
“We are concerned that there may be others who may have been victimized. Hopefully there is an investigation happening, but often we would know about that if it was. If there is no investigation, I think it’s absolutely shocking,” Pate said.
Jeff Campbell, regional communications manager with Correctional Service Canada (CSC), said that under Canada’s Privacy Act CSC cannot comment on the cases of individual staff members.
He added the “CSC does not tolerate any breach of its policies and all allegations regardless of the source are thoroughly investigated by CSC.”
“Whenever there is evidence of misconduct, appropriate disclipinary action is taken,” Campbell said in an email.
An unrelated incident, revealed in a report tabled in Parliament on Thursday, found that 21 people who worked at the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge brought children to the institution at least 73 times since 2011.
Friday recommended the prison service ensure it is “aware of and actively monitoring” local practices in its institutions to ensure
safety and consistency with policies.