Indigenous leaders outraged after fraudulent social worker granted day parole

Man who defrauded kids granted parole Indigenous leaders are outraged after a man sentenced for stealing from vulnerable foster children was granted parole.

B.C. Indigenous leaders say they were outraged to learn that a man who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from vulnerable foster children had been granted day parole.

Robert Riley Saunders pleaded guilty in 2021 to charges including fraud over $5,000, breach of trust and forgery. He was sentenced last year.

The charges stemmed from a scheme in which Saunders was accused of moving foster children away from stable homes so they would become eligible for financial benefits from his employer, the provincial Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Most of the children in care in B.C. are Indigenous, and Hugh Braker of the First Nations Summit Political Executive told CTV News First Nations leaders wanted a harsher sentence for Saunders.

"We had objected, originally, last year, when Mr. Saunders was sentenced to five years," Braker said. "We thought that was too low. And now he gets released on day parole after only 14 months? We just – we can't fathom it. We don't understand it."

He said the First Nations Leadership Council – an umbrella organization that includes representatives from the First Nations Summit, the BC Assembly of First Nations and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs – advocated for a sentence in the eight-to-10-year range.

"Don't forget that Mr. Saunders stole $460,000 from vulnerable Indigenous youth," Braker said. "These were children that were taken out of their family home. They were in crisis. They were vulnerable."

Saunders was also found to have faked his qualifications to get a job as a social worker.

Prior to sentencing, the provincial government settled a class-action lawsuit with more than 100 people who said they were victims of Saunders, paying them a base amount of $25,000.

CTV News obtained a copy of the Parole Board of Canada's Oct. 4 decision, which confirms Saunders was granted day parole for a period of six months. The prisoner's request for full parole was denied.

The board considered the seriousness of Saunders' crimes – noting his alarming "capacity for exploitation and manipulation," and the fact that his Indigenous victims suffered as he "lived a lavish lifestyle and bragged about it to them" – but credited Saunders with making strides toward personal improvement since his incarceration.

"In terms of progress, the Board finds that you have used the time since your arrest to reflect on your offending and you have gained awareness of the problematic thinking patterns and justifications you used to carry out these offences," the decision reads.

Saunders will be under a number of release conditions, including that he avoid contact with his victims, and not enter a "position of responsibility, paid or unpaid, for the management of finances or investments for any other individual, charity, business or institution," according to the documents.

The FNLC condemned the parole board's decision in a statement and called for it to be reversed.

"We thought the parole decision by the national parole board was an insult," Braker said. "We were outraged by it and very angered by it. That's a sentiment that's shared by the entire First Nations Leadership Council. We were just appalled at the decision."

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Kevin Charach