EXCLUSIVE: Calgary man charged in decades-old sexual assaults

CALGARY- It took more than four decades, but a man is now charged in a series of sexual assaults against four young girls.

The alleged abuse happened between 1972 and 1986. Victims say the assaults happened over and over, in one case for nearly six years.

One victim, who cannot be identified, says the accused was a friend of the family, who babysat her as a child.

“We would have to go to bed early, and he would show up at the door,” she remembers. “I would see this silhouette of him there are the door, and I’d hear a zipper.

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“I would cringe, and I knew it was gonna happen, and he would come in, shut the door and start.”

She told her parents about the abuse as well as his mother, but says they didn’t believe her.

“I got slapped for it,” she says. “After that, I was terrified. I never brought it up.”

The aftermath of the abuse has had a lifelong impact.

“I was scared of men in general.”

She eventually went to police years later.

“The CPS will investigate any investigation that people bring forward,” says Cst. Nadia Paterson from the Calgary Police Service. “We absolutely hope people will come forward—any victim of sexual assault or child abuse.”

Chris Schiaroli, 60, has since been charged in the case.

He is currently employed with the Calgary Flames and works at the Saddledome.

Global News tracked Schiaroli down, but he declined to comment on the allegations.