Prince George jail is now the temporary home of a man facing allegations of multiple sexual assaults against children at the western end of Highway 16.
Charges were laid late last week against Harvey Gordon Robertson, 70, including two counts of sexual assault and four counts of sexual interference against more than one victim (total not disclosed), all under the age of 16. Suspect and victims were all residents of Prince Rupert.
Robertson was first arrested on Tuesday.
"Last week the Prince Rupert RCMP was made aware of these allegations," RCMP spokeswoman Const. Laura Lechky told The Citizen. "They have a time span of up to a year ago until recent times. He was not known to us before then. We have no history with him, so we are learning almost everything about him now for the first time."
No information was provided that might disclose the identities of the victims. Part of that protection for these children was withholding how Robertson came to be in contact with them. Lechky did allow that Robertson "is not someone with authority or responsibility around children, like a teacher for example."
Police expect this case will be agonizing for a small city like Prince Rupert. Investigators with special training in such matters are involved with the Prince Rupert detachment to fully investigate these allegations.
"We are looking now for both more victims or witnesses to come forward," Lechky said. "There may be people who have more information that can help resolve these matters, and we are also not ruling out the possibility that there may be more victims."
Anyone with information related to these allegations, or new information, is asked to please contact Const. Holdenreid or Const. Starr with the Prince Rupert RCMP at 250-627-0700.
The allegations against Robertson have not yet been tested in court. He has been remanded in custody at the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre until his next court appearance on August 15, 2011. Mr. Robertson will appear via a video conference from Prince George.
