Ottawa woman, 97, faces sex assault allegations in far north incidents from 1960s, 1970s

Published Oct 12, 2023 • Last updated 3 hours ago • 1 minute read

Ontario Provincial Police. Photo by File photo /POSTMEDIA

A 97-year-old Ottawa woman has been charged in connection with alleged historical sexual assault cases in Ontario’s far north in the 1960s and 1970s.

Ontario Provincial Police said in a release that the offences allegedly took place in “residential and day schools” in Fort Albany and Moosonee, communities on the shore of Hudson’s Bay, about 900 kilometres north of Ottawa.

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Alleged offences also occurred at a detention facility in Sudbury, police said.

The person faces three counts of “gross indecency,” as the offences were identified in the Criminal Code before 1987.

Prior to 1987, some sexual activities were prohibited by the “gross indecency” offences, according to a federal background explanation.

Revisions in 1987 were made to ensure that victims of sexual offences “receive as much protection as possible under the law, regardless of when the offending occurred.” The revisions stipulated that charges could be laid under historical sexual offences if the alleged conduct would be an offence under current offences.

“This would ensure that historical sexual offences are used to protect victims of sexual offending and not to punish persons who engaged in consensual sexual activity,” the backgrounder stipulated.

An OPP spokesperson said Françoise Séguin, 97, of Ottawa, had been given a summons to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice at Moosonee on Dec. 5.