Ex-Mountie goes to prison for sex assaults on boys

KAMLOOPS A former police officer and youth sports coach who used his authority and trust in multiple communities to groom teenage boys before sexually assaulting them has been sentenced to six years in a federal penitentiary.

Alan Davidson, 62, was taken into custody by sheriffs at the conclusion of a sentencing hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops on Tuesday.

Davidson was convicted of five charges in B.C. dating back more than 35 years and pleaded guilty to two more charges stemming from incidents in Saskatchewan, where he was working as an RCMP constable, in the 1980s and early 1990s.

“Mr. Davidson’s crimes were predatory in nature,” Justice Sheri Donegan said in handing down the sentence.

Davidson’s offences began in 1976 in his hometown of Clearwater, B.C., when he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy playing on a hockey team he coached.

The following year, Davidson targeted a 15-year-old boy he met through his involvement with minor hockey. The two shared a hotel room on an overnight trip to Penticton and Davidson plied the teen with alcohol before assaulting him.

Between 1977 and 1978, Davidson began abusing a 14-year-old boy he met while coaching minor baseball and hockey. In 1979, Davidson targeted another 14-yearold boy he met through coaching.

In the early 1980s, while Davidson was working as a jail guard at the RCMP detachment in Clearwater and volunteering as an auxiliary constable, he began abusing another 14-year-old boy he met through coaching.

Davidson was later hired as an RCMP constable and worked first in Lloydminster, Sask., and then in Yorkton, Sask.

In 1987, he targeted his 17-yearold Yorkton paper boy.

Four years later, Davidson targeted a 16-year-old Yorkton boy he coached in hockey.

A psychological report prepared prior to Davidson’s sentencing noted he has limited remorse and exhibits denial, minimization and justification in relation to his offences.

Police began investigating Davidson in 2012 after one of his Clearwater victims came forward with information. Davidson had no previous criminal record and was working as a deputy sheriff in Calgary when he was arrested in March 2014. He has been on bail since.

The RCMP has said Davidson spent time at detachments in Saskatchewan and Alberta between February 1982 and August 1996.