Calgary police have now laid charges against a man for sexual assaults he committed nearly forty years ago.
The CPS Child Abuse Unit says that the charges against Thomas Larry Jones, 69, of Carstairs, relate to two female victims who knew the accused as a pastor at a northwest Calgary Baptist church.
Police learned of the offences against Jones while investigating another leader at the same church who sexually assaulted three male victims in the 1980s and 1990s.
"During that investigation, police spoke to a number of people involved at the church at the time, including a number of youth." says Det. Jeff Klinger with the CPS Child Abuse Unit. "During those interviews, a disclosure about Mr. Jones was received. Once the initial investgation was concluded, we turned our attention to this investigation."
The man targeted in the previous investigation has been identified by police as Russell Rodman, who is currently serving a sentence at Bowden Institution.
Klinger says that, even given the fact that both men worked at the same church, there is no indication they were working together in any way.
He added that these incidents aren't specifically about an institution. "Places of worship, businesses, don't commit these offences. It's people who commit these offences against other people."
Police say that the assaults against the victims in the Jones’ case predate Rodman's offences and began when one victim was five years old and continued until she was 15. The other victim was nine when the assaults began and continued until she was 18.
Police say the victims were parishioners at the church and Jones was a leader and teacher.
The assaults reportedly occurred within the church and the accused’s home next door.
"These happened 20 to 30 years ago and these people spread themselves across Canada, so it did take a bit of time to track these people down. There have been name changes, significant changes in where they live. Once we were satisfied, we had spoken to enough people, we came to a point where Mr. Jones needed to be arrested and charged," Klinger said.
Jones has been charged with:
- Indecent assault of a female
- Three counts of gross indecency
- Four counts of sexual assault
- Two counts of sexual interference
- Two counts of sexual exploitation
Klinger said that during his talks with the Jones' alleged victims, he says they're moving forward with their lives. "From meeting with them and talking with them, I guess developing a relationship with them over the past several months, they do have supports in place and, relatively speaking, without putting words in their mouths, they are moving forward. That's nice to see."
