7 more victims come forward in child abuse investigation,
4 people charged
Provincial posted May 1, 2024 @ 05:00pm by Megan Trudeau, Kelowna Now
An investigation into child abuse and sexual exploitation has resulted in more charges after new victims came forward.
Alberta RCMP continue to ask victims to come forward after a new round of charges were announced, as well as the arrest of a fourth person believed to be involved.
Handsor is also facing new charges after five new victims came forward reporting historical child abuse while in her care in Whitecourt and Quesnel.
RCMP identified two additional victims, totalling seven new victims of child abuse.
On April 29, 2024, Handsor was charged with 13 additional charges including seven counts of failure to provide necessities of life, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, three counts of assault and two counts of administering a “noxious substance.”
Handsor remains in custody and will appear in court on May 1, 2024 in Stony Plain, Alta.
And Further north...
‘That is staggering’: Children and youth representative
sounds alarm over child sexual abuse
Nunatsiaq News
Jane Bates, Nunavut’s Representative for Children and Youth, said Tuesday that nothing has been done by the territorial government to address the child sexual abuse crisis in Nunavut in the three years since she sounded the alarm in 2021. (File Photo)
Jane Bates tells territorial committee that numbers have gone up 400 per cent in recent years
Three years after declaring child sexual abuse in the territory had reached a crisis level, Nunavut’s Representative for Children and Youth says nothing more has been done since then to solve the problem.
Jane Bates made that accusation Tuesday, speaking on the second day of a two-day televised hearing of the legislative assembly’s government oversight committee, reviewing her office’s annual report for 2022-23.
Bates noted that the Family Services department director’s annual report on family wellness for 2021-22 reported 518 referrals of child sexual harm that fiscal year, or about 10 per week.
In March 2020, the then-Family Services minister said her department was receiving about two calls per week regarding child sexual abuse.
That means that since 2020, “the numbers have increased by 400 per cent,” Bates said, adding she has reason to believe the numbers are even higher due to reporting issues or lack of information on referrals in some regions.
“That is staggering. I came here in 2021 and spoke about the child sexual abuse crisis and to my knowledge no plan has been put forward to address the crisis.”
She added, “I have not been consulted about putting forward a plan to address this. I find that very concerning.”
In the past, the issue has been brought forward to the legislative assembly or the committee “but then nothing happens,” Bates said, and yet based on the information her office has “the situation is spiralling out of control.”
Noting Bates’ view that the data provided to her was inaccurate, Iqaluit-Manirajak MLA Adam Arreak Lightstone called the rates of child sexual abuse in Nunavut “alarming.”
Systemic issues involving record keeping in the Family Services Department have been reported multiple times in the past.
Lightstone asked Jonathan Ellsworth, deputy minister for the Department of Family Services, if he could verify the report’s numbers.
“I cannot verify the accuracy of those numbers,” Ellsworth responded.
He said he believed the numbers were low, and “I do think it does paint a picture of the fact that there are issues around this very serious matter of child sexual abuse.”
Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA Janet Pitsiulaaq Brewster said “I think that it is really important that that we take a focused approach to addressing the crisis of child sexual abuse.”
“The crisis at family services has been years in the making and there is not going to be a quick fix,” Bates said.
“I am always open, willing and able to offer my office’s expertise in terms of sitting down and developing a [child sexual abuse] plan.
“Keeping in mind, any plan that is put forward must be on a continuum. There must be prevention, intervention and post-intervention.”
It seems like Nunavut has a very good candidate to be put in charge of developing a comprehensive program.
It's a shame the territory has done nothing in three years, but, really, the Canadian government has done nothing in 8.5 years. Child sexual abuse doesn't seem to be a problem for Justin Trudeau. Kids don't vote.
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