Eby slams decision to allow subcontractor to monitor repeat B.C. sex offender
The person charged with monitoring a repeat sex offender in Kelowna who allegedly victimized an 11-year-old girl at an equestrian centre was a subcontractor arranged by Community Living B.C.
That subcontractor sat in his car for 2½ hours while alleged offences by Taylor Dueck occurred. Dueck is facing charges of sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and breach of probation.
Premier David Eby acknowledged that “at every level, this was a massive failure of judgment.”
“For CLBC to take on responsibility for someone with a criminal record like this, for them to subcontract that responsibility to an obviously negligent and incompetent subcontractor, for that person who had one job to do — to make sure that this individual was not in contact with any children — to fail at that job, to decide that a horse barn was the right place to take this person, it is outrageous,” Eby said during question period Wednesday.
“It is the absolute most unbelievable string of incompetent decision making that one can even imagine.”
Eby was responding to B.C. United leader Kevin Falcon, who asked who thought it was a good idea for Dueck to receive free horseback riding lessons at an equestrian centre “that was easily identifiable as a venue for children.”
The owner of the equestrian centre where the alleged offence took place on Feb. 9 said she did not know about Dueck’s criminal history when someone from Community Living B.C. asked if Dueck could participate in adult riding lessons.
The owner did not want her name or the name of the equestrian centre published out of fear it could compromise the publication ban on the victim’s name.
She was told Dueck, 29, was developmentally delayed and would be under the supervision of a support worker from CLBC, a B.C. Crown corporation that works with adults with development disabilities. She was not told CLBC would be subcontracting the supervision to someone else.
Dueck had been participating in riding lessons at the equestrian centre for months, despite the fact that the riding program primarily caters to children and youth. His probation conditions required him to be supervised when in the community and he was not allowed to be near children or wooded areas.
After learning about Dueck’s past, the owner asked the CLBC worker who signed up Dueck for the program if they knew about his history. The worker said yes, but they couldn’t disclose that information in order to protect Dueck’s privacy.
Dueck was on probation following a 12-month provincial court sentence for sexually touching a 10-year-old child. That offence occurred less than two months after Dueck’s release following a 4½-year federal sentence for sexual assault and sexual assault with a weapon.
According to federal parole documents that relate to earlier offences, Dueck was denied parole in 2018 and 2022 because he posed a “well above average risk for future sexual offending.”
No one from Community Living B.C. was available for an interview but it said in a statement it does not directly provide services to clients, but subcontracts to community-based services.
The service provider in question was Personal Lifestyle Support.
“Their contract is under review and this incident is under active investigation, but we can say that the service provider is not currently supervising anyone else on court ordered conditions,” CLBC said. “In circumstances where a service provider does not adequately ensure appropriate conditions are met, CLBC’s quality assurance division investigates the matter. This type of investigation could lead to consequences up to and including termination of one or all contracts with an agency.”
CLBC said “this horrific incident should never have happened.” Its expectations are that “service providers work closely with the probation officers to ensure that their staff are doing what they can to secure everyone’s safety.”
B.C. United MLA Renee Merrifield, who represents KelownaMission and says she has been in contact with the victim’s family, said the fact that a subcontractor was used shows the issue of Dueck being in the community “was taken very lightly.”
“It was not dealt with with the severity that the situation demanded. And ultimately, whether it’s a [CLBC] employee, a subcontractor, it doesn’t matter. The failure is with the leadership at the top,” said Merrifield, referring to the Public Safety Ministry that oversees the province’s probation officers.
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth was asked Wednesday why CLBC was allowed to subcontract the monitoring of a high-risk sex offender. He said he has the same question.
“That’s why, when this horrific event was brought to my attention on Thursday, it was clear to me this was a situation that should not have happened,” he said.
Farnworth said he has ordered an investigation into all federal and provincial agencies involved “to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”
The investigation will look into whether it was a “systemic failure or a failure of an individual,” he said.
CLBC said it will fully co-operate with the investigation.