A trial is underway for a former long-time employee of the Calgary Stampede’s performance group, The Young Canadians.
Philip Heerema has pleaded not guilty to 20 charges, including sexual assault and making child pornography. There are eight victims named in the case.
The allegations date back to 1992 and continue to 2014. The identities of the victims are protected by a court-imposed publication ban.
READ MORE: Young Canadians employee charged with sex assault of teen performers
The case stems from a police investigation launched in January 2014.
Police said a man came forward claiming he had been victimized by Heerema as a teen in 1997. The victim said he was a teenage performer and Heerema was in a position of authority over him at the time.
After receiving the initial complaint, the Calgary Police Service said multiple victims came forward, all of whom were males between the ages of 15 and 18 years old at the time.
Heerema was with the Young Canadians for 36 years. He was employed by The Calgary Stampede as a business administrator for The Young Canadians for nearly 17 years and was a singer with the group prior to that.
He resigned from that job at the beginning of the investigation.
A videotaped interview with Det. Paul Ralstin of the Calgary Police Child Abuse Unit was played in court Monday.
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The interview took place June 4, 2015 at Calgary police headquarters and lasted several hours.
Ralstin took Heerema through the allegations he was facing and told him about evidence found on electronics seized from his home.
“There were some photos that were concerning…younger males…teenage males,” Ralstin told Heerema.
“Did you want to identify who they are?” Ralstin asked.
“I prefer not to say anything at this time,” Heerema responded.
Ralstin did most of the talking in the interview. The detective read numerous messages alleged to have been sent back and forth between Heerema and several boys in the group.
“It’s consistent,” Ralstin told Heerema. “It’s grooming. It’s classic pedophile behaviour.”
“My fear is there are dozens of victims.”
In the final hour of the interview, Heerema began to open up to the detective.
“I looked at them as friends,” Heerema said.
He told the detective he struggled with relationships and his own sexuality.
Heerema described one incident, saying, “It was on New Year’s Eve and I was drunk.”
“I had a few and unfortunately I guess I wasn’t thinking very clearly,” he told Ralstin.
Heerema said from that day on, he never drank again, with the exception of “two gluten-free beers.”
The remainder of the interview will be played in court Tuesday. The case will then adjourn until Jan. 23.
In a statement to Global News, The Calgary Stampede said it was extremely upset by the case.
“The safety and well-being of our youth program is our number 1 priority and this case is extremely upsetting to us as an organization,” the statement reads.
“Since first learning of the allegations against the individual, we have fully supported the police investigation.”
When asked about measures to keep youth program participants safe, the organization said the performing arts studios include “state-of-the-art security features, such as video surveillance, electronically controlled access points and see-through glass doors on all rooms and offices.”
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