Whitehorse Daily Star

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TAKING QUESTIONS – RCMP Supt. Scott Sheppard is seen at a news conference held Oct. 27, 2021 in Whitehorse.

RCMP discuss review of their school investigation

There were no real revelations from the RCMP as they held their first briefing Tuesday to discuss the ongoing review of the Hidden Valley School sexual abuse scandal.

By Tim Giilck on January 19, 2022

There were no real revelations from the RCMP as they held their first briefing Tuesday to discuss the ongoing review of the Hidden Valley School sexual abuse scandal.

There are currently four reviews being carried out into the matter, which saw a former educational assistant being convicted on sex charges for an incident that happened on school property in 2019.

Parents and families were never informed of the case as it unfolded. Subsequent charges have since been laid against the same man for other alleged incidents.

In September 2021, RCMP Supt. Scott Sheppard acknowledged that mistakes were made in the investigation. He apologized profusely as he announced an inquiry would be turned over to the British Columbia RCMP.

In particular, Sheppard said he was angry that his investigating officers either didn’t attempt to search for other victims, or, as he said Tuesday, didn’t document any efforts to search for other victims.

He called the matter a “failure of supervision.”

Supt. Chan Daktari Dara, the division’s criminal operations officer, initially supervised the investigation.

On Nov. 26, 2019, Dara suggested the investigtors search for other potential victims.

It’s not clear what happened after that, but nothing was documented, and it hasn’t been established whether that directive was followed up on at all.

There was also a recommendation to create a communications strategy in partnership with the territorial Department of Education to inform the public, but it was never implemented.

Interestingly, despite the promises from the government and the department to co-operate fully, Sheppard said the RCMP only recently obtained a court order to access some documents that the department had resisted providing.

Sheppard offered little further comment, and wouldn’t say if the government has been uncooperative with the RCMP.

He said the review team was looking for information on how to contact past and present families who had students at Hidden Valley – and the department resisted.

“They have other challenges over there,” Sheppard said, but didn’t explain further.

In a statement to the Star this morning, the government said, “The Government of Yukon is fully co-operating with the RCMP investigation.

“Upon request from the RCMP to provide records, the Department of Education worked to ensure that the provision of records was done in accordance with the Education Act, the Health Information and Privacy Management Act and the Access to Information and Privacy Act, which all regulate the sharing or provision of records.”  

A production order was required for the release of some of the information sought due to Section 20 of the Education Act, the government said.

That specifies that student records are privileged, and disclosure without consent is an offence.

“Upon receipt of the first production order, it became clear that records held by the Public Service Commission were are also required by the RCMP, and a second production order was sought and granted to ensure that the records could be properly released in a completely unredacted form,” the government said.

“The orders were granted on Nov. 5 and Dec. 14, 2021.”

During Tuesday’s news conference, Sheppard was reluctant to comment on allegations the government has made over the last several months that have blamed the RCMP for the situation.

He said it isn’t uncommon for such aspersions to be made, but added he doesn’t find them fair either.

The review is expected to take another month or two to conclude, he said. It’s been “more work” than he thought at first, Sheppard said.

During the review, relevant RCMP documents, including the Whitehorse detachment investigative file and all related materials, were reviewed and considered.

“Relevant policies and best practices for the investigation of sexual offences in place at the time as well as those current to the date of the report are currently being reviewed and considered to  assess compliance and to determine possible recommendations to be included in the final report,” he added.

Matters that are still under review:

• RCMP operational policies are being reviewed to assess the policies in place at the time and whether those policies and any applicable guidelines were followed.

• Best practices for conducting an investigation with a vulnerable sector are also being reviewed.  

“The aim is to determine if there were other legal or investigative techniques to identify further victims – while protecting the privacy of known victims and their families – that could have been employed.”

Some preliminary findings based on the review conducted to date:

• Although investigative decisions may have sound rationale, there needs to be improved  documentation on the investigative file.

• Recommendations will be included in the final report.

• Process and training improvements introduced since 2019 with respect to sexualized violence investigations.

Independent of the review process, M Division has taken steps to revisit policies and procedures in place respecting the investigation of sexual offences and to implement and provide improved training respecting relevant policies and best practices.

For example:

• In 2021, M Division implemented updated national and divisional policies related to investigations of sexual offences.

• In 2019, the M Division formalized the National Sex Offender Registration co-ordinator position. This solidified processes for managing sex offender registrations, tracking non-compliant  offenders, and assisting sex crime investigations with tactical queries.  

• In November 2020, M Division updated operating procedures for the Specialized Response  Unit regarding ownership over files. This was done to improve accountability and supervisor  engagement. 

• In November 2020, resources were diverted to increase funding for the Specialized Response Unit.  

• A multi-layered supervisor/manager review process was implemented at Whitehorse  detachment (June-November 2021). This has improved oversight, reporting practices, and  supervisor review procedures for all sexualized violence investigations by the Whitehorse  Detachment Operations.  

• M Division has improved reporting procedures of investigations to Criminal Operations. 

• Improved mandatory training has been offered over the past several years relating to sexual  violence investigative practices.

Comments (8)

Up 6 Down 0

Shitzen Giggles! on Jan 21, 2022 at 9:34 pm

What about the English enslavement of the Irish - Ever read the book White Cargo?
What about the extermination and mutilation of Albino Africans?
What about the McGill University mind erasure experiments on the mentally ill?
What about the Arabian slave trade of African peoples?
What about the enslavement of Africans by other Africans?
What about the blood feuds between North American (sic) First Peoples?
What about the Serbian Genocide of Albanians? Civil Wars, Class Wars, Armed Conflicts?
What about the Australian genocide of Aborigines?

All based on the colour of your skin, the purity of your blood, and the relative moral worth of your kind of humanity as determined by the wielder of the balance of power!

You all should be ashamed of yourselves for your pasts and you all should be ashamed of yourselves for your complicity in the present rise of tribalism, and identitarianism. Yes, let’s return to those days we’d rather forget if we were in our right minds now… We had turned away from those days when the calculus of one’s moral worth was skin colour…

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! It’s rather interesting to observe the inverse relationship between the rise of technology and social media with real significant declines in intellectual capacity. Some exceptions are anticipated however the generalization will rise to the level of certainty.

Every generation has their own pain to bear. For the boomers it was the constant threat of nuclear war, the Vietnam and Korean Wars, Middle Eastern conflicts etc. The Millennials and Gen Zedders have the pain of hurt feelings, real or imagined! And us Gen Xers are sitting back eating popcorn while saying to our selves, this level of mass psychosis is entertaining as shyt!

Although, not half as entertaining as reading one of Charlie’s Aunt’s, or one of Woodcutter’s flops on the subject of fire killed/standing-dead wood harvesting. Everyone knows that these practices are devastating to the health of our world. Biomass fuel is dirty and mean, and mighty unclean… Just watch me ungreen…

Unbelievable! I guess that is why the new generations are referred to as the death-cult generations, the extinction rebellion purging its angst!

Up 6 Down 0

Josey Wales on Jan 21, 2022 at 3:38 am

Hey CF...too close to the sacred cash cow was I?
Any points I made re healing trauma you’d like to refute?

All children matter, not just the chosen few...is that too radical or racist Chuck?
Back to the safe zone for ya, the state broadcaster where never will the chosen ones be challenged on anything.

If it were my kids, that state agent would’ve been fed to the bears...they love garbage.

Up 2 Down 6

Chuck Farley on Jan 20, 2022 at 11:12 am

Josey Wales please share with us the RS experience.

Up 8 Down 14

@Sam on Jan 20, 2022 at 6:56 am

Uh, the bungling of the investigation *is* their fault

Cops aren't here to help you. They're an organization with their own culture and their own ideological objectives. They aren't here to do a good job, they're here to do the job they feel is satisfactory. They likely feel harassed just having to give answers that they can't simply say, "get an FOIA" to.

Up 17 Down 9

Josey Wales on Jan 20, 2022 at 5:59 am

Well apparently money helps heal, look to the RS experience.
So one can assume that those victims and *alleged ones too are also up for annual apologies from that idiot in Ottawa, healing money for them and the generations after....?
Oh yeah trauma like hunger apparently is exclusive to the liberals favourite lil darling subjects.
To be consistent....bad job coppers on this one.
Maybe the whole organization should remove their state supplied PC Crusader glasses, turn in their Liberal party cards and ACTUALLY fire members for doing a job like this one was done!

Oh yeah...the other blight that besets us all...UNIONS!
Same reason our town is a collective of entitled non producers...yup...
Freakin Union blowholes!

Up 14 Down 2

Polly wanna cracker on Jan 19, 2022 at 11:59 pm

Must we read lead after lead that nothing was revealed? Their job is to conceal, Tim, yours is to reveal. DIG.

Up 12 Down 3

Rhetoric take me away! on Jan 19, 2022 at 8:56 pm

A failure of supervision, my ass. Does anyone who hears of the sexual abuse of a handicapped child need supervision to stand up for the most vulnerable people in society? Cowards who hide behind behind children, people with disabilities and the elderly. AKA opportunists/leeches/parasites.

Up 46 Down 10

Sam on Jan 19, 2022 at 2:36 pm

Thank you sir for your honest observations.

I simply can't wait to see the white wash and drivel the government's review will offer. They are likely elated to hear the words spoken by the RCMP Superintendent and will no doubt be at the ready to say "see it is all their fault."

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