Accused sex offender guilty of past indecent acts

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This article was published 31/03/2022 (1522 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Lundar man arrested recently for historical sex crimes against children was convicted 20 years ago of sexual offences involving three boys, court records show.

Joseph Floyd Delaney, 65, was arrested in February and charged with seven sexual assault-related offences involving three children, alleged to have occurred in the mid-1980s to early 1990s.

Court records show Delaney pleaded guilty in September 2000 to three counts of committing an indecent act involving three boys under the age of 14 between January 1998 and March 2000.

“The accused would masturbate in front of (one of the victims) and the others on several occasions during that period of time,” Crown attorney George De Moissac told provincial court Judge Ted Lismer at Delaney’s September 2000 sentencing hearing.

Delaney stood trial for the offences but entered guilty pleas before it concluded. Lismer agreed to a joint Crown and defence recommendation that Delaney be credited the double-time equivalent of 10 months served and ordered to serve an additional three months in custody.

De Moissac told Lismer the plea bargain came after consultations with police and parents of the victims and took into account “exigencies” with the case, including evidence Delaney was intoxicated when he committed the offences.

Lismer sentenced Delaney to an additional three years of supervised probation with the requirement that he undergo sex-offender counselling and not be alone with anyone under 18

Delaney’s criminal record includes an additional conviction for gross indecency in 1980. It was unclear from audio records reviewed Thursday if that offence involved a minor.

Delaney’s next court date on the new charges is May 31.

The new offences allegedly occurred at a time when Delaney ran church group theatre productions in the southwest area of the city, Winnipeg police said when announcing charges against Delaney last month.

A justice source had told the Free Press Delaney ran theatre productions for Grant Memorial Baptist Church on Wilkes Avenue near Waverly Street.

“No child should ever need to experience this,” church leaders said in a written statement shared with church members following news of Delaney’s arrest.

“While we do not know who the victims and their families are, on behalf of our church family we are so sorry that you have experienced this pain, this trauma, and we admire your courage in stepping forward,” the church said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca