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Nova Scotia RCMP say a Dartmouth man is facing 66 sex-related charges involving at least 32 alleged victims, following a four-year investigation into allegations of dozens of sexual assaults at a provincial youth correctional facility northwest of Halifax.
Donald Douglas Williams, 75, who was the swim instructor at the Nova Scotia Youth Centre in Waterville, N.S., between 1988 and 2017, was arrested at his home on Saturday, police told a news conference.
Williams faces three counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm, 28 charges of sexual assault, 32 charges of sexual exploitation, and charges of sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, and assault. Police said the offences occurred at the correctional facility between 1989 and 2015.
Staff Sgt. Rob McCamon said the alleged victims were between the ages of 12 and 18.
“All of them were male with the exception of one female,” McCamon said at RCMP headquarters on Wednesday.
He said the charges involved at least 32 victims, although he said he needed to verify whether there was one more.
The Mounties said Williams has been released and is scheduled to appear in Kentville, N.S., provincial court on Sept. 26.
They say their investigation — Operation Headwind — involved interviewing more than 450 survivors and witnesses across Canada and reviewing more than 9,800 documents.
McCamon said the complexity and breadth of the case helps explain why it took police four years to lay charges.
“In an institutional setting like this, there was a lot of communications and documentation that needed to be gone through…. It takes a lot of time to review that information and make it usable and understandable to move forward with charges,” he said.
“Not to mention the amount of people that needed to be spoken to and interviewed that weren’t necessarily next door here in Nova Scotia.”
McCamon said additional charges are expected against Williams, and the investigation is ongoing.
The youth centre, located about 100 kilometres northwest of Halifax, opened in 1988. It houses male and female youth serving open or secure custody sentences, as well as young people awaiting a court appearance.
The centre includes five cottages, each of which has two 12-bed units. Each unit has a kitchen, laundry area, common area and 12 individual bedrooms. The buildings are interconnected to form a circle around a large recreation area.
“All of the charges we are moving forward with at this point happened within the facility,” said McCamon.
