Calgary police lay charges in 1980s sex assault cases

Calgary police say advances in DNA science have allowed them to make an arrest in connection with three sexual assaults committed nearly 40 years ago.

Several charges have been laid against Richard Hubert Jones, 69, of Edmonton, who was arrested Monday by Calgary police with the assistance of Edmonton police. Police said in a press conference the man is known to police.

The suspect has lived in Alberta, B.C., and Saskatchewan and lived in Calgary during the mid-80s, when the crimes are said to have happened.

“Essentially, 40 years ago, evidence was collected but the ability to test that evidence has evolved over time — our ability to determine DNA comparisons has evolved,” said Staff Sgt. Michelle Doyle in a press conference Wednesday.

According to investigations, a teenager was babysitting their younger sibling at home in February 1984 when a man entered a home on the corner of Tache Avenue NW and Centre Street North, sexually assaulted the teenager and fled.

One evening in March 1984, a woman and her child were in their home on 7 Avenue and 20 Street NW.

The mother was woken in the night to an unknown man in her bedroom. Police say she tried to escape, but the man forced her into another bedroom, where he sexually assaulted her. Before he fled, the suspect threatened the victim with physical violence.

Lastly, in June 1985, a woman was asleep in her home on the corner of 6 Street and 29 Avenue SW south of the Glencoe Club when she was woken up to a man covering her face, attempting to restrict her view of him. He then sexually assaulted the victim, saying he had a knife, and then fled.

“These are violent and traumatizing crimes, perpetrated against people in their own homes, a place where we should all feel safe,” Doyle says. “We acknowledge the impact these assaults have had on the victims and their families and hope the charges can bring some form of justice and closure to them.”

Jones has been charged under the 1984 Criminal Code and faces seven counts, including break and enter into a dwelling house and commit sexual assault, sexual intercourse with a female person who is not his wife, “break and enter a dwelling house and commit sexual intercourse with a female under the age of 14,” and sexual intercourse with a female person who was not his wife and who was under the age of 14

He also faces a charge of intent to enable or assist himself to commit an indictable offence, did attempt to choke, suffocate, or strangle a female person.

In addition, he is also been charged with the 1985 Criminal Code offenses one count of break and enter into a dwelling house and commit sexual assault and one count of sexual assault.

Doyle said the development in this case is significant for the Calgary Police Service and its cold case team.

“I’m very proud of them for finding some closure for people,” she says.

“You can imagine opening evidence sometimes 20, 30, 40 years and that’s what our cold case team is — they literally open up old boxes and see what we have and if there’s something that could be potentially forensic then we would seek out assistance from the crime lab.

“We don’t stop looking.”

Jones is scheduled to appear in court in Calgary on Monday, June 12.

Police encourage anyone who believes they have been a victim of sexual assault to contact them, no matter when the incident occurred, at 403-266-1234 or by calling 9-1-1 if they are in immediate danger. People can also leave a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

There is no statute of limitations on criminal sexual offences in Canada.