Trial continues for former Young Canadians staffer accused of sex crimes

Former Young Canadian testifies against Heerema An alleged victim of Philip Heerema took the stand on Wednesday to describe an encounter he had with Heerema when he was 17 in 1992. Ina Sidhu reports.

A former staff member with The Young Canadians is on trial for multiple child sex abuse charges and was told he displayed ‘textbook pedophile behaviour’ during a recorded interview with police.

Philip Heerema, 55, worked for the Calgary performance group for more than 30 years and is facing 20 charges including sexual assault, making child pornography and luring.

Police received a complaint about an inappropriate relationship between a person of authority with The Young Canadians and a 16-year-old boy in January 2014.

Seven more victims came forward to police and investigators say the allegations date back to 1992.

Heerema was charged in June of 2015 and resigned from the group when the accusations surfaced.

On Monday, Heerema pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

In a police interview played in court, Heerema admitted he was in a position of authority and he didn't give a clear answer when asked how many sexual relationships he had with the performers.

During the interview the officer speaks about inappropriate messages,  where Heerema invited boys over for a sleepover, and said one victim described sexual encounters in Heerema's car and on the Stampede grounds.

Computers and electronics belonging to Heerema and the complainants were collected by police and were handed over to the Internet Child Exploitation Unit for examination.

The Stampede says the ‘safety and wellbeing of our youth program participants is our number-one priority’ and that the ‘case is extremely upsetting to us as an organization.’

The Stampede says it’s new facility has a number of increased security features such as video surveillance, electronically controlled access points and programs that are built around safety practices.

“With empowering youth and we have our Dare to Care and Life Challenges for Youth programs that actually help youth understand their own power to come forward and give them a number of choices where they can come forward and make any concerns that they have evident to us,” said Warren Connell, CEO, Calgary Stampede.

The prosecution alleges that Heerema used his position of trust to commit sexual offences.

All eight of the alleged victims are expected to testify along with staff from the Stampede and police investigators.

Heerema is currently out on bail and his trial is scheduled for four weeks.

(With files from Ina Sidhu)