The lawyer for an ex-Mountie charged this week with sexually abusing three children in Calgary dating back to 2007 said after his client’s first court appearance on Wednesday that he will be seeking bail.
Steve Bitzer, who represents Arnold James (Jim) Somers, 69, said that could be as early as Thursday when he makes his next appearance.
Bitzer would not speculate on whether Somers, who was convicted in the 1990s for sexually assaulting three brothers in Saskatchewan, is a candidate for release.
“I don’t like to pre-judge the judges. I respect the court process,” Bitzer said outside court after the case was briefly adjourned.
Earlier, Crown prosecutor Camelia Wong told provincial court Judge Paul Mason the case was “complicated” and she needed the 24-hour delay because she only received initial disclosure this morning. She said her office hasn’t received detailed disclosure from police in order for a bail hearing to be conducted.
At her request, Mason placed a publication ban on the identities of the complainants.
Calgary Police Service charged Somers, 69, on Monday with 14 offences, including sexual assault, sexual interference with a child under 14, invitation to sexual touching and indecent exposure to a child under 14.
Bitzer said his client turned himself in voluntarily after becoming aware of the charges.
Police in Calgary say that in December 2011, they received a complaint from a 17-year-old male who said he had been a victim of sexual abuse between October 2007 and June 2009.
As police investigated the complaint, two more victims, aged 10 and 14 at the time, were discovered.
Police say all three victims were his acquaintances’ children.
The alleged assaults happened in Somers’ home, vehicle and a public park, said police.
Sex-crimes unit Acting Staff Sgt. Ryan Jepson said Somers “knew the adults and that’s how he started relationships with the children.”
As an adult in the company of children, he was in a position of trust, added Jepson, but was not in a position of authority.
The alleged crimes started in 2006 with the 14-year-old victim and continued in 2010 with the 10-year-old. These two victims are related to each other.
Jepson said his department is aware there may be other victims but they have not come forward.
In the 1990s, Somers was convicted and sentenced to two years less a day for sexually assaulting four children.
According to the Regina LeaderPost, Somers was convicted of sexually assaulting three Yorkton-area brothers over a six-year period beginning in 1984 when they were ages five, 10 and 12.
He also pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a fourth boy, then eight, in 1973 in Edmonton.
He was charged in 1994 and left the RCMP at that time as a staff sergeant with 30 years of experience. During the trial, he was described as an RCMP firearms expert, Sunday school teacher, boys club leader and coach.
At the time of the most recent charges, police say there were no court-imposed conditions restricting him from being near children.
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