N.S. man accused of sexually assaulting youths at Waterville facility appears in court

A Nova Scotia man charged with sexual assault at a youth detention centre appeared in court on Tuesday.

A former swim instructor charged with sexually assaulting 30 youths at a correctional facility in Waterville, N.S., made his first court appearance in Kentville provincial court Tuesday morning.

Donald Douglas Williams, 75, waived the reading of the 66 charges against him as he was arraigned in court. The Crown indicated it will proceed by indictment on all 66 charges.

“It means that basically for offences of this nature the Crown has a choice as to whether to proceed by indictment or by summary conviction,” explained Crown attorney Rob Kennedy.

“Given the nature of these allegations, the Crown proceeded by indictment, which means they are more serious allegations, and it means the maximum penalty for these offences is higher than for summary conviction.”

Williams has applied for a lawyer through Nova Scotia Legal Aid.

He is due back in court for election and plea on Oct. 21.

‘Massive investigation’

The charges against Williams come following a multi-year investigation called Operation Headwind.

During a news conference last week, the RCMP said it started investigating the allegations at the Nova Scotia Youth Centre in 2018, and established Operation Headwind in 2021. By 2022, 14 members were dedicated solely to the investigation.

The RCMP said officers interviewed more than 450 people across Canada, reviewed more than 9,800 documents seized during searches, and completed more than 1,200 tasks related to Operation Headwind.

Kennedy noted the documents totalled more than a million pages, many of which were hand-written notes from the 1980s and 1990s, which had to be digitized.

“In terms of the magnitude of this case, this is a massive investigation,” said Kennedy. “Perhaps the largest, if not one of the largest, sexual abuse investigations in this province’s history.”

‘Some complainants have lost their desire to go forward’

Police arrested Williams at his home in Dartmouth, N.S., on Sept. 13.

Investigators believe Williams, who was a swim instructor at the Waterville facility between 1988 and 2017, may have sexually assaulted more than 300 youths ages 12 to 18 between 1989 and 2015.

While police believe Williams has more than 300 alleged victims, the 66 charges relate to 30 complainants. Police have said they expect to lay more charges in the coming months, though some complainants have decided not to proceed with the court process.

“There’s been many complainants that have come forward. Here we have 30 complainants, and these are complainants that have expressed a desire to continue with the criminal process,” said Kennedy.

“This investigation has been ongoing for six years and some complainants have lost their desire to go forward.”

Williams has been charged with the following:

• three counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm
• 28 counts of sexual assault
• 32 counts of sexual exploitation
• sexual interference
• invitation to sexual touching
• assault

Police said his alleged victims were all male, except for one female.

Kennedy said he and his colleagues will be meeting with the complainants over the next few months and is encouraging any other potential victims to come forward.

“They can be rest assured that the police will approach this with a trauma-informed approach, that they will be treated with kindness, they will be treated with sympathy and they will be treated with respect,” he said.

Anyone with information about the investigation can call the Operation Headwind tipline at 902-720-5313 or toll-free at 1-833-314-3475. The line is monitored Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. A confidential voicemail is available outside of those hours.

Emails can be sent to [e-mail].

Anonymous tips can be made to Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page