'We could have done a much better job,' says head of Yukon RCMP on Hidden Valley school sexual abuse case

Warning: This story discusses sexual abuse.

One of the failings of the Yukon RCMP's 2019 investigation into sexual abuse at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Whitehorse was not looking into whether there could have been more alleged victims after the initial investigation was launched.

That's according to a review completed by B.C. RCMP on the case. While the final report has not been made public, a summary of the findings was shared with CBC.

"No documentation was found to reflect official discussions between RCMP, Department of Education and Public Prosecutions to suggest considerations of a plan to search for other victims," the summary reads in part.

The summary says the report was meant to look into the "timeliness, thoroughness, and quality, or lack thereof, of the investigation." It also pointed out shortcomings and it makes recommendations to policies, training, reporting practices and more.

Yukon RCMP Chief Supt. Scott Sheppard, who spoke with CBC's Paul Tukker, host of Yukon Morning on Wednesday, agreed that his force erred when it didn't initially look further into other possible abuse victims.

"Where we failed to follow up was determining whether other victims could have existed that predated the investigation that we were in investigating," Sheppard said.

"And, the lack of information detailed on the file leaves some speculation as to whether those particular questions were asked, whether that information was ever really sought out, if it was provided, who was it provided from."

The case in 2019 involved an educational assistant at Hidden Valley school who was convicted of sexually abusing a student. Parents at the school were not told about the incident. After a CBC report, RCMP reopened the case, and that same educational assistant was later charged with allegedly abusing two additional students. B.C. RCMP officers were brought in to review how the case was handled by local investigators.

"We could have done a much, much better job of determining if, in fact, other incidents had occurred. And those matters are before the courts and decisions will follow in due course," Sheppard said.

He added he thinks the most significant impact of the investigative errors was the delay in support for those impacted. That sentiment echoed the findings in a report by Yukon's child and youth advocate, which was tabled in the Yukon Legislature last week.

Other findings in the B.C. RCMP's report included a lack of documentation of investigative decisions when it comes to the collection, or exclusion, of potential evidence which may have been considered during the investigation. The report also notes that there were concerns from parents about the effectiveness of how Yukon RCMP resources conducted interviews with children with autism spectrum disorder and other challenges.

More changes recommended

Sheppard met on Monday with parents involved, in part to discuss the B.C. RCMP report. He said one of the main takeaways for him is proving to parents they can have confidence in police. 

"At the end of the day, that's what we can all hope to come out of this, is that we will continue to do our job, but we'll do it better."

The Yukon RCMP have already made some changes in their policies to prevent repeating cases like this, Sheppard said.

For example, a system was created that flags sexual violence investigations for increased monitoring. 

Sheppard said there are also now policies in place that would see files like this go directly to the Special Response Unit, and remain with that unit, rather than initially going to general officers for investigation.

"There wouldn't be this question of who has carriage of this of this file," he said.

He said the Yukon RCMP is also looking at outside resources in Edmonton for training, where they specialize in interviewing children with various cognitive challenges.

Sheppard also said in his time in service, he has never seen a file like this one where steps were missed. He said he's since had "difficult discussions" with his staff about the roles and responsibilities of officers in various ranks.

"If direction had been given and followed, we wouldn't be talking about this," he said. 

The Yukon RCMP have since also implemented supervisor check sheets at its Whitehorse Detachment, to increase supervisory direction and documentation on investigations.

The review suggests a few more changes for the force. It includes making more sexual assault investigation training mandatory for Yukon RCMP members.

The RCMP review is one of four related to the handling of sexual abuse at Hidden Valley school. 

An independent review ordered by the Yukon government and one by the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate have also been completed. An investigation by the Yukon Ombudsman is still underway.