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RCMP Child Abuse

February 15, 2013 permalink

An unnamed RCMP officer and his wife are charged with child abuse. One of the victims was found wandering on a street alone showing signs of months of malnutrition and confinement.

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Ottawa RCMP officer, wife charged after child abuse investigation

OTTAWA — An RCMP officer accused of beating and sexually abusing a boy hung his head in the prisoner’s box as a Crown prosecutor outlined the horrifying allegations against him during his first appearance in an Ottawa court Thursday.

The 41-year-old Mountie and his 34-year-old wife are accused of aggravated assault, failing to provide the necessaries of life and forcible confinement after a child abuse investigation. The husband is also facing a charge of aggravated sexual assault.

The Mountie was remanded into custody until Friday, when he is expected to be examined by a psychiatrist.

The accused are not being named to protect the identity of the victims.

According to police sources, the charges came after an 11-year-old boy was found wandering in an affluent Ottawa neighbourhood, starving and dehydrated.

The child is believed to have been confined with shackles and handcuffs in a basement for several months, causing bruising around his ankles and wrists. He managed to free himself from the restraints and escaped the home, sources say.

The child’s injuries are still being assessed.

Police said there is more than one victim, but wouldn’t say how many.

“Right now, our focus is on the victims of this,” Supt. Ty Cameron said Thursday. “You just need to look at the charges that are before the courts to know this is a case of horrific abuse.”

Neighbour Wilson Wong, 55, said he hasn’t slept well since Tuesday after he discovered a young boy fiddling with an outdoor garden faucet in his backyard around 3 p.m.

The boy, who was wearing a hoodie and pants, had sunken cheeks and spoke very quietly, said Wong, who said he feels terrible for not noticing any warning signs.

“I just want some water,” the boy had said, holding up a bottle.

After Wong filled the bottle in his kitchen, he asked the boy if he lived in the neighbourhood, to which the boy answered yes, in a quiet voice before walking away into the communal neighbourhood green behind Wong’s house.

“Looking back right now, with 20-20 hindsight, I think to myself, ‘how stupid can I be?’ Not really picking up on there must be something really wrong,” said Wong, sitting in his living room Thursday evening.

Wong said he didn’t sleep well that night but it wasn’t until early the next morning on his way to work that he saw a police car parked outside a nearby house.

“I walked over to the policeman and asked him, “Is this about the boy? Is he OK?” and he said, “Yeah, he’s fine. He’s in the hospital.”

While he felt some brief relief, it vanished later when Wong saw the news and knew something terrible had happened in his “quiet family neighbourhood.”

“At that time, I did not know it was so wrong,” said Wong, holding back tears. “If he had even slightly mentioned to me, ‘Can you help me?’ I would have sprung to action but I just simply had no clue.”

Meanwhile, the RCMP officer, who wore a black and blue winter coat and had his head shaved bald and stubble on his face, stood quietly with his hands in front of him after being led shackled into the courtroom Thursday.

He answered a barely audible “Yes, your Honour” when Justice of the Peace Julie Lauzon said his name.

Minutes earlier his wife appeared in court, wearing a white puffy winter jacket with fur fringes on the cuffs, her brown hair appearing somewhat dishevelled. She said her name quietly before being remanded in custody.

She is expected to appear by video Friday to set a date for a bail hearing.

Ottawa police said the officer was arrested Tuesday after an investigation at his residence. He is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, three counts of assault with a weapon, and one count each of aggravated sexual assault, failing to provide the necessaries of life and forcible confinement.

The woman is charged with three counts of aggravated assault, two counts of assault with a weapon — a wooden spoon — and with failing to provide the necessaries of life and forcible confinement.

Both the man and his wife were ordered not to communicate with a list of 10 people, including the child they are accused of abusing.

As of Wednesday the man was suspended with pay from his service as an RCMP officer and an internal investigation was underway, said Cpl. Lucy Shorey of RCMP A Division.

The officer has also not been on active duty since May of 2011.

Shorey said she could not give details about why the man hasn’t been on active duty, how long the man has worked for the RCMP or in what capacity for several reasons, including wanting to protect the identity of the youth involved.

But according to an affidavit the accused swore in December 2010 in relation to a separate matter, he was a member of the RCMP’s National Security Criminal Investigations program, an anti-terrorist unit.

A police cruiser and three unmarked police vehicles were parked Thursday afternoon at the man’s home in an affluent Ottawa neighbourhood. One neighbour said police had been at the well-kept two-storey home since Tuesday.

Anyone with information can call the Ottawa police sexual assault/child abuse unit at 613-236-1222, extension 5944.

Source: Ottawa Citizen

Addendum: More charges.

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Mountie faces new charges for second victim in Ottawa child abuse case

OTTAWA — A Mountie accused of physically and sexually abusing one child is now facing a new allegation that he assaulted a second child.

Court documents alleged the boy was assaulted with a wooden stick over a three-year period beginning in 2010. The child is now two-and-a-half years old.

The 41-year-old officer, who appeared in court by video Friday in an orange jail-issued coverall, is also facing a pair of new charges for carelessly storing a Winchester 500 .177 pellet gun and Winchester 9mm Luger ammunition.

The Mountie, who worked in an anti-terrorist unit, was already accused of abusing an 11-year-old boy who was allegedly shackled in a basement for several months, beaten and violently sexually assaulted. The boy was dehydrated and bruised around the wrists and ankles when he was found wandering around in an Ottawa neighbourhood in February.

Both the Mountie and his 34-year-old wife were charged after a search of their home. Neither can be named to protect the identity of the boy.

Each has been charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, failing to provide the necessaries of life and forcible confinement. The RCMP officer was also charged with aggravated sexual assault. The officer has also not been on active duty since May of 2011.

A three-day bail hearing has been set for the wife starting March 18.

The Mountie is due back in court by video on March 22.

Source: Ottawa Citizen

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