Suspect charged in historical sexual assault

A 68-year-old Estaire man has been charged in what the Ontario Provincial Police is calling an historical sexual assault investigation.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1974 and 1978 and involve an employee of the Bancroft Drive Boys Home — a group home and detention facility that housed male youths in Sudbury. It was closed in 1980.

The victims were residents of the home, said the OPP.

At the time of the alleged offences, the victims were between the ages of 13 and 18, said Warren detachment OPP Const. Rodney Petroski. Because the victims were minors at the time of the offence, the OPP isn't releasing the name of the suspect, he said.

The investigation started in 2009, he said, when the first victim, living in western Canada, reported the alleged abuse to the RCMP. Once the RCMP realized it was in the jurisdiction of the OPP, the passed it on to the Warren detachment. Through their investigation, officers were able to find four more victims.

As far as the OPP knows, there are no more victims, Petroski said. However, if there are, they are asked to contact the OPP. Further charges may be laid against the suspect if that is the case.

"That's why we put out the press release," Petroski said.

The suspect has been charged with six counts of gross indecency and seven counts of indecent assault on a male.

He is scheduled to appear in Sudbury Court on January 30.