Winter panorama Revelstoke councillor named in sex suit
Plaintiff, 15 at time, says she was assaulted following 2014 school outing
A lawsuit alleges that a Revelstoke councillor sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl following a school outing in Langley in 2014.
Cody Younker, who was elected to council in 2018, was, at the time of the alleged incident, an adult volunteer at Walnut Grove secondary school, says the lawsuit.
The plaintiff, who is identified as “Jane Doe” in the lawsuit, says that she was 15 years old and a student in Grade 10 when she participated in a series of day and overnight hikes organized by the school district.
She alleges that Younker, an adult chaperon and “junior leader” for the hikes, knew or ought to have known that she was suffering from mental health problems at the time.
On the return trip on a school bus from the third hike, Younker asked for her phone number and began texting her that same evening, she says in the lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court. Younker soon began offering to help with her homework and began picking her up after school for “homework hangouts,” says Jane Doe, who alleges she was being “groomed” by Younker.
Around May and June 2014, Younker committed acts of sexual assault and battery upon the plaintiff, the lawsuit alleges.
“At all material times to the abuse, Younker was a servant or agent of the school district and had a duty of care not to cause harm to the vulnerable plaintiff,” says the lawsuit. “At all material times to the abuse, the school district had a duty of care to keep the plaintiff safe from harm caused by any volunteer or mentor to whom they introduced and referred the vulnerable plaintiff.”
Around mid-June 2014, Jane Doe says in the lawsuit, she reported the alleged abuse to a friend who contacted the Langley school district.
A school counsellor was assigned to interview Jane Doe, but accused her of lying about the abuse and defended Younker's credibility, alleges the lawsuit. “The interview had the effect of re-victimizing the plaintiff, causing further injury.”
In a statement released by Sandra L. Kovacs, the plaintiff 's lawyer, Jane Doe says that she also made a complaint to the RCMP but never received any closure from the police complaint.