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City cop faces new child-molestation charges

By: Aldo Santin

Posted: 02/9/2013 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Kenneth Anderson: placed on restricted duty

A veteran Winnipeg police officer is facing charges of molesting a 10-year-old boy, charges similar to the ones he faced more than four years ago.

The RCMP charged Kenneth Jack Anderson, 52, with sexual assault and sexual interference involving inappropriate touching of a 10-year-old boy in the RM of Rockwood in 2006.

Anderson was charged in 2008 with sexually abusing two 11-year-old aboriginal brothers. He was found not guilty at a 2011 trial.

Anderson, an award-winning officer who has been singled out for his work with disadvantaged and troubled aboriginal youth, has been placed on restricted duties by the Winnipeg Police Service.

The RCMP said Anderson, who lives in the RM of Rockwood, was charged Thursday following consultation with the Manitoba Crown attorney's office.

The Mounties said they were notified in late August about the allegations, which had been passed on to them from the Winnipeg child protection branch.

Anderson was first arrested Dec. 6, but was not charged and was released on a promise to appear in court. He was to abide by court-ordered conditions, including not to have any contact with the alleged victim.

He is scheduled to appear Feb. 11 in Teulon provincial court.

After he was charged in 2008 with sexually abusing the 11-year-old brothers, he was acquitted in March 2011 after a trial in which the only evidence against him was the testimony of the two alleged victims.

Anderson denied the accusations, and the trial judge said there were serious flaws in the stories the brothers presented.

Though Anderson was placed on leave after his charges became public in 2008 and returned to work only after he was acquitted, a Winnipeg police spokeswoman said he now is assigned to restricted duties.

The WPS would not elaborate on what is implied by restricted duties, but it is believed to mean Anderson will not be dealing with the public.

In 2003, he was presented with a certificate of distinction for youth justice policing from the federal government and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police for co-developing a cultural program for disadvantaged aboriginal boys in Winnipeg's inner city.

Anderson told his 2011 trial he worked closely with at-risk aboriginal youth and had taken several of them on various outings related to their culture, including sweat lodges.

He also received a community service award in 2007 from aboriginal war veterans.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 9, 2013 B1

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