Daily BrewEx-Mountie charged in 8 indecent assaults against B.C. minors
A former Mountie who spent 14 years policing Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia has been arrested and charged in eight historical cases of sexual assaults against minors.
Alan John Davidson, 58, was arrested in Calgary on Thursday and charged with eight counts of indecent assault dating back to his time as a minor hockey and baseball coach in the Okanagan region of B.C.
B.C. RCMP Supt. Brendan Fitzpatrick told a press conference on Friday that Davidson was suspected of the sexual abuse of eight underage male victims in the 1970s and 1980s. An RCMP investigation suggests Davidson has not coached since 2008.
Davidson served as an RCMP officer in three western provinces between 1982 and 1996. Fitzpatrick said Davidson was currently employed by the Alberta Sheriff's Office.
Fitzpatrick said the eight cases currently under investigation date back to before Davidson joined the RCMP. As soon as allegations were raised against Davidson, investigators conducted an extensive review of his time on the force, Fitzpatrick said. He conceded it was a concern the allegations were not revealed at that time.
"It is a concern. The RCMP's recruiting and selection process has evolved tremendously over the last 30 years to include a lot of processes and screening tools so that this sort of thing is eliminated," he told reporters on Friday.
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The RCMP says it launched an investigation after a victim came forward in November 2012. The complainant alleged he had been assaulted by his high school hockey coach while living in Clearwater, B.C., in the early 1980s. He suggested it was possible other players had been similarly assaulted.
During Davidson's tenure with the RCMP, he was stationed in various detachments across Saskatchewan and B.C., as well as in Lloydminster, Alta. RCMP released a list of where Davidson has lived and worked:
1970's to 1981 – Clearwater, B.C.
August 1981 – February 1982 – Regina, Saskatchewan
February 1982 – December 1983 – Coronach, Saskatchewan
December 1983 – April 1986 – Lloydminster, Alberta
April 1986 – August 1993 – Yorkton, Saskatchewan
August 1993 – 1996 – North Battleford, Saskatchewan
August 1996 onwards – Alberta (currently resides in Calgary)
Investigators have located a total of eight victims, most of whom say they were members of hockey or baseball teams coached by the accused. Those cases all stem from the Thompson-Okanagan Region of B.C., although investigators note the suspect’s history with the RCMP would have brought him into contact with youths across western Canada.
"He was active in the communities he served in and would have been exposed to a number of athletes, children, minors," Fitzpatrick said.
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