FILE PHOTO

Image Credit: Global Okanagan (with permission)

The First Nations Leadership Council is relieved to learn that former Kelowna former social worker Robert Riley Saunders has been arrested and charged multiple counts of theft and fraud following an RCMP investigation.

Saunders was recently arrested in Alberta and remains in custody. The B.C. Prosecution Service has approved 13 charges against Saunders including 10 counts of fraud over $5,000, one count of theft over $5,000, one count of breach of trust and one count of uttering a forged document.

READ MORE: Criminal charges laid against former Kelowna social worker Robert Riley Saunders

“For over a decade, this man preyed upon and exploited some of the most vulnerable members of our society for personal profit and gain, while acting under the auspices of the Ministry of Children and Family Development – the branch of our government that is tasked with protecting these young people,” said Cheryl Casimer of the First Nations Summit, in a press release. Saunders was employed with the ministry from 1996 to 2018.

“We were outraged to learn of this disgusting situation and that it went undetected for so long. The individuals who were harmed by this man, along with their families, have been left with lifelong traumas as a direct result of his actions. We are grateful to see that charges have finally been laid and he has been arrested. May justice be served for his victims.”

A Ministry of Children and Family Development internal investigation found Saunders had victimized approximately 102 children and youth, more than 90 of whom were Indigenous, during his employment as a ministry social worker.

A class action settlement was approved in B.C. Supreme Court earlier this fall to provide financial compensation to Saunders’ victims.

READ MORE: Class action settlement approved against former Kelowna social worker

“We are at a time of change and opportunity, and we hope to see this reflected in the prosecution of Robert Saunders. The fact that nearly all of Robert Saunders’ victims were Indigenous is demonstrative of the broader systemic issues that have placed less value upon our lives, needs and circumstances.

"True justice will only be served when we see these inequities addressed, and the broad systemic shifts that support Indigenous peoples in having our inherent and fundamental human rights upheld. Let this not be another case where a non-Indigenous man is privileged within the justice system while the Indigenous children and youth he preyed upon are denied the justice they are due,” said regional Chief Terry Teegee, of the B.C. Assembly of First Nations, in the release.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2020