Man is charged with sexually assaulting girls
A former Watson Lake resident is facing 24 charges of sexually assaulting five young girls in the community.
A former Watson Lake resident is facing 24 charges of sexually assaulting five young girls in the community.
Lyle Gilmore, 55, was arrested in Watson Lake on May 15.
In a news release this morning, Watson Lake RCMP said the five female complainants are between the ages of eight and 11.
The offences are alleged to have occurred between January 2013 and January 2015.
Gilmore lived in Watson Lake a few years ago, but now lives at a camp near Pink Mountain, B.C., according to police.
He travels back and forth frequently between southern Yukon and northern B.C., said Sgt. Cam Lockwood.
Police began their investigation in April, when one of the girls came forward and made the allegations.
Four other girls gave statements to police after that.
“When the first victim came forward, that’s when the rest of the investigation opened up,” said Lockwood.
Gilmore was subpoenaed to testify last month at the forcible confinement trial of Michael Nehass. When he was on his way back to B.C., he was arrested in Watson Lake.
Lockwood said the timing was coincidental – after police collected their last statement and were ready to arrest him, he was in the community.
Gilmore is charged with eight counts of sexual assault, eight counts of sexual interference, eight counts of sexual exploitation and breaching a B.C. conditional sentence order.
Gilmore remains in custody and has not yet sought bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 17 in Whitehorse.
Lockwood said he doesn’t know at this point if there are other alleged victims.
But he asks that anyone who knows anything about Gilmore’s interactions with youth in the Yukon and B.C. contacts police at 867-536-5555.
Watson Lake RCMP, the Yukon RCMP “M” Division Specialized Response Unit, Watson Lake Victim Services and Watson Lake Regional Social Services are working to ensure the girls are receiving the support they need, he said.
Comments (8)
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John Gould on Jun 12, 2015 at 3:43 pm
@Max Mack: nobody is asking for mob justice and I don't believe anyone's statements can be interpreted as such. 5 children all coming up with allegations against the same man during the same time period I find a little more than coincidental and if you read the article the police did their investigation prior to arresting him which means there must have been enough there to suggest this man did something to these kids.
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Max Mack on Jun 11, 2015 at 3:55 pm
It is important to remember that these are allegations only. This man has not had his day in court. Hopefully this man will obtain decent counsel or he will be convicted regardless of the evidence. If he is guilty, then he deserves it. Till that day happens, he is innocent.
Let the justice system do its job. If you want mob justice, move to Brazil.
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John Gould on Jun 11, 2015 at 12:57 pm
I think it's sad that we seem to focus on the grammar of the story rather than the fact that this guy has been molesting at least 5 Yukon kids and God knows how many more, and the effects this will have on these innocent victims and their families.It makes me proud when all Yukoner's get behind the boys and girls club break in but when it comes to sexual assaulting little children it's like we have no support. Wake up Yukon all of these victims need our support and while we are at it, let's put some demands on our justice system to represent the victims of this horrific crime with their best interests and that of the victims families rather than the best interest of the pedophile. At this mans age it is clear that this is something he has been doing for a long time and has just gotten caught so if there are other victims or people that know of other victims PLEASE come forward. People like this need to be permanently removed from all communities and publicly identified for what they really are "sexual deviant perverts who prey on innocent children to get sexual gratification". My prayers go out to the young victims and their families and hope that our justice system does right by all of you.
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Mary on Jun 11, 2015 at 10:34 am
Read the article again.
"Police began their investigation in April, when one of the girls came forward and made the allegations.
Four other girls gave statements to police after that.
“When the first victim came forward, that’s when the rest of the investigation opened up,” said Lockwood."
The investigation started when the first girl came forward.
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Brian on Jun 11, 2015 at 7:26 am
It's a social responsibility to protect our children and elders, to protect those who can not protect themselves. It's news like this that makes me wonder why we abolished Capital Punishment?
In our society we're too busy dealing with land issues and equal rights, why don't we focus more on punishment for rapists?
Having been a victim as a child I always have a flashback when reading articles like this. It's not something you ever forget.
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Liard McMillan on Jun 11, 2015 at 7:09 am
This is all too little to late for some of this piece of crap's victims. As for granting him bail, it is this writers belief that if any court in Canada considered bail for this serial pedophile, public safety or justice no longer lives here.
Paying close attention to this file and so should everyone who has one ounce of care for children. I believe this is only just a small portion of what's to come involving Mr. Gilmore and am hungry to see how our Yukon justice system will deal with this matter.
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Dustin on Jun 10, 2015 at 5:39 pm
Jax get your eyeglass prescription checked, it reads:
“When the first victim came forward, that’s when the rest of the investigation opened up,” said Lockwood."
What it should say is the investigation really got going when the first victim came forward.
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Jax on Jun 10, 2015 at 3:40 pm
My issue right away with this is that they said the first girl made allegations towards this perv and what got the investigation going was the other girls coming forward. Is one girl not enough to bar him up for life? People like this should be "fixed" in a not so nice way. I'm glad this man is in jail but should he even be allowed to be granted bail even if he tries? I don't think so! I would not allow that at all. These poor girls - (I hope they get the help they need because it's tough growing up with that kind of trauma).