Assiniboia, Sask., mother 'terrified' after more sexual assault charges laid against local man
A small town in Saskatchewan is reacting to learning that a local community member is now facing more than 70 charges of crimes against children, including sexual assault and making child pornography.
Police arrested Richard John Dyke in 2023 and charged him with 13 sex offences at the time. Police said they had determined three boys under the age of 12 were sexually assaulted in the mid-2010s.
Assiniboia, located about 175 kilometres from Regina, is home to about 2,333 people, according to Statistics Canada data from 2021.
RCMP announced at a news conference Tuesday they had laid 60 more charges against Dyke, now 47, after identifying 29 additional victims.
Dyke's home was a licensed daycare. Maxine Vermeeren, a mother living in Assiniboia, said she used to live across the street from it.
"I'm terrified. Like as a mom of two, I don't think I would send my kid to a day home, ever, after hearing this," Vermeeren said in an interview Wednesday.
"I think it'll affect the day homes because honestly, like, you don't know who you can trust anymore."
Cebrina Dirk is a mother of three young children, also in Assiniboia. She said the news is "terrifying."
"In a small town we feel like we're a tight-knit community and everybody knows everybody, but now, do we honestly know who our neighbours are? I don't think so anymore," said Dirk in an interview Wednesday.
"All of these victims, they're going to have their traumas, they're going to have family trauma, their parents' hearts are breaking."
The mayor and city councillors of Assiniboia declined to comment on the charges.
The new charges
On Tuesday, RCMP said the 29 additional victims were all youth between the ages of 18 months and 17 years when the offences occurred, with the majority being male.
RCMP say they seized 24 terabytes of digital evidence.
"If you were to take that evidence we located and you were to print that out, it will equate to a six storey building of paper," Chief Supt. Ted Munro, the officer in charge of criminal operations for the Saskatchewan RCMP, said Tuesday at a news conference.
"The magnitude of this investigation has proven significant. Investigators have analyzed over one-and-a-half million pieces of digital evidence."
Munro said there are 32 known victims in total and that they came into contact with Dyke in a variety of circumstances from 2005 to 2023.
The new charges laid against Dyke are 14 counts of sexual assault, 14 counts of sexual interference, 23 counts of making child pornography and nine counts of voyeurism.
WATCH | Sask. man faces dozens of crimes involving children:
Munro said victims came into contact with Dyke at daycare
The victims were located in the Saskatchewan cities and towns of Tisdale, Estevan, Coronach, Assiniboia, Gravelbourg and Swift Current, according to Munro.
Dyke was an instructor with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, but police say they have not identified any victims connected to that role.
Dyke is scheduled to appear in Moose Jaw Provincial Court on June 4 at 10 a.m. CST. He has remained in custody since his arrest in November 2023.
