Former Mountie gets six years jail for sexual offences against boys in B.C., Saskatchewan | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
Subscribe

Would you like to subscribe to our newsletter?

Kamloops News

Former Mountie gets six years jail for sexual offences against boys in B.C., Saskatchewan

FILE PHOTO

CONTENT ADVISORY

KAMLOOPS - A former sports coach and Mountie who sexually assaulted several young boys in B.C. and Saskatchewan in the 1970s and 1980s will spend six years behind bars.

Alan Davidson will also need to register as a sex offender for the next 20 years.

Davidson held positions of authority for much of his adult life, including as a hockey coach, baseball coach, and auxiliary RCMP member in Clearwater, and an RCMP officer in Saskatchewan.

After a trial last year, Davidson was found guilty of indecent assault against five boys in B.C. in the 1970s, by Kamloops Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan. Before he was sentenced today, April 24. He had offences from his time as a Mountie in Saskatchewan waived to B.C. to plead guilty to them, and he was also sentenced on those charges today.

During trial, court heard from seven now middle-aged men who knew Davidson back in the 1970s. Each of them detailed incidents of sexual relations between themselves and Davidson.

All of the men were teenagers at the time of the incidents, some as young as 14 years old. At the time of the offences, the age of consent in Canada was 14 years old.

Some boys were especially vulnerable, as Donegan pointed out in her decision today, because of their appearance, lack of social circle or lack of father figures.

"Mr. Davidson was in a position of trust or authority toward most of these young boys at the time of his offending against them," Donegan said.

Crown prosecutor Alex Janse sought a sentence of eight years for the B.C. and Saskatchewan crimes, while defence lawyer John Gustafson asked for a two-year conditional sentence order to be served in the community.

Court heard parts of victim impact statements today from some of the victims in the case, none of whom can be named due to a court-ordered publication ban to protect the identities of sexual assault victims.

One man detailed how he no longer trusts persons of authority, especially those in uniform, and how he's now over-protective of his family. Another spoke of how he lived in constant fear and always looks over his shoulder now.

Davidson's offences in Saskatchewan took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Davidson was in his late 30s, married, and worked as an RCMP officer. Donegan read the circumstances of those offences in her reasons for decision.

Davidson sexually assaulted a 16- to 17-year-old boy on several occasions in 1990 and 1991.

Court heard Davidson would take the teenager on police ride alongs, take him on detachment tours, and take him golfing and snowmobiling. Davidson would also lend him money, allow him to borrow his car, and ask him to babysit his young son.

He was also the youth's hockey coach. The player had made a higher-level team, but Davidson convinced the teen to play on his team by offering him the position of captain and more playing time.

Davidson invited the teenager on an out of town fishing trip but he couldn't get the time off work. So Davidson went to speak to the youth's manager and convinced them to grant the time-off request.

The victim was the youngest person on the trip, and court heard he sat and consumed alcohol with the other adults there.

That night the victim went to sleep and Davidson climbed into his bed, where he began fondling the teenager, and tried to perform fellatio on him. The victim refused.

The offences after that happened at Davidson's house, on "danger nights" as the victim called them, referring to Davidson's wife not being home. At times Davidson would rent pornographic videos and play them for the victim, sometimes consuming alcohol, and they would touch each other's genitals.

The other Saskatchewan victim was 17 years old when the offences happened in 1987. They had known each other for approximately one year when the victim told Davidson he'd never seen a pornographic film. 

Donegan said that soon after that, Davidson asked the victim to come to his home and showed him a pornographic movie. Davidson knew the victim was heterosexual. He offered the teenager cherry whisky and eventually pulled out his penis and started masturbating. Court heard the victim was unfamiliar with sexuality and was partially intoxicated. Davidson sat down beside the teenager and told him how good oral sex felt.

He then told the victim that he felt lonely for being the only one masturbating, and the victim said he wasn't comfortable. Davidson backed away after that.

He also tried to get the victim to stand in front of a video camera Davidson had set up, but the victim became more uncomfortable and left. Davidson told him not to say anything because of his job as an RCMP officer.

In psychological reports prepared for sentencing, which were prepared before the guilty pleas to the Saskatchewan offences, court heard Davidson was reluctant to talk about his offences, and denied, minimized and justified some of his actions.

He claimed the victims were just as curious about experimenting with their sexuality as he was. Two report-authors believed Davidson doesn't take full responsiblity for his actions.

"Mr. Davidson’s degree of responsibility for each offence here is very high," Donegan said. “I’m satisfied that Mr. Davidson feels some, albeit limited, remorse for the suffering of his five British Columbia victims.”

Donegan pointed to a sworn statement that was video recorded after Davidson's arrest in March 2014, where he apologized to several of the victims in the case. She does add that Davidson has a lack of insight into his offences.

She says Davidson partially admits he's wrong, but then blames the victims and society instead of himself.

Donegan said a conditional sentence order would not be appropriate, and sentenced Davidson to a total of six years behind bars.

For more coverage on this case go here.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Ashley Legassic or call 250-319-7494 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, 2018
iNFOnews

  • Popular vernon News
View Site in: Desktop | Mobile