Lake St. Martin chief accused of sex assault on child

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This article was published 10/04/2024 (516 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lake St. Martin First Nation’s chief has been charged with the sexual assault of a child and creation of child pornography.

Christopher Traverse, 40, was arrested Feb. 1 and is facing charges of sexual assault, possessing and creating child pornography, and sexual interference.

Winnipeg police confirmed the arrest Wednesday. They said the victim is an elementary-school-aged child but declined to comment further.

The offences allegedly occurred in late December 2023.

Traverse, who was elected chief in July 2022, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Court records show he made an appearance before a justice of the peace on Feb. 2 and was released on bail. His next court date is July 3.

Traverse appeared to be holding a meeting at a Winnipeg hotel in a livestream posted by the First Nation on social media last week. He discussed a petition calling on him to resign but did not elaborate.

“The allegation against me should have been brought up at a family law platform,” he said in the video, published April 3. “That family law platform is supposed to be (there to) protect the children of Lake St. Martin, and it should have been brought up there.”

He said in the livestream he has no plans to resign.

“I’m not stepping down as chief. I’m going to move through the storm, and the only way out of this is going through it,” he said.

A member of Lake St. Martin, commenting on the condition of anonymity, said a letter was written by community elders in mid-March outlining allegations of child sexual abuse and asking Traverse to step down. That letter was given to him on April 3.

“It’s such a shocker. I don’t think any of us were aware he was trying to hide those charges,” she said. “He didn’t make mention of them. He’s never brought them up yet. He hasn’t addressed them at all.”

Winnipeg police said they chose not to send out a public news release about the alleged crimes because investigators don’t believe Traverse used his authority as chief to gain access to the child.

“When we’ve done some releases recently involving, say, a teacher or a coach, those individuals accused, they used those positions of power to gain access to their victims. This wasn’t that situation,” Winnipeg Police Service Const. Dani McKinnon said.

McKinnon said the offence occurred in Winnipeg and there was a possibility the victim’s identity could be impacted by a release.

“At the end of the day, we do not put out releases on the majority of these type of files,” she said. “We do not publicly outline sexual assault cases and child pornography cases, for the most part, because we do the best we can to not re-victimize a survivor or their family.”

Traverse sits on various committees, including the Interlake Reserves Tribal Council and Anishinaabe Child and Family Services. Lake Manitoba chief Cornell McLean, who also sits on both boards, is concerned about the allegations.

“Any charge is serious, but especially when it’s involving a child, because Chief Traverse sits with me on the board of Anishinaabe Child and Family services as well, and of course, our duty there is to protect the children,” he said.

Anishinaabe CFS members are looking into its bylaws, McLean said, and the Interlake Reserves Tribal Council is planning a special meeting and seeking legal advice on next steps as their constitution doesn’t include guidelines on board member misconduct.

“I don’t think we’re going to remove him, but we certainly will suspend him or have a conversation with him that he needs to take some time away from the board,” McLean, who chairs the Interlake council, said. “It’s not a paid position. It’s ultimately up to him if he decides to do that, to do the right thing.”

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs declined to comment on the arrest and said in a statement it was “not aware of the particulars of these charges.”

“The AMC wishes to confirm its support for the citizens of Lake St. Martin First Nation,” the statement reads. “The AMC commits to working with council of the Lake St. Martin First Nation to ensure that appropriate supports are available for all those who are affected.”

The anonymous Lake St. Martin resident said the impact on the community also hurt by flooding in 2011 has been damaging.

“I’m going to cry when I think about it. The flood that happened, the fact that the government’s not coming to the table to convert our land, (council is) working out of temporary band offices still, and then this whole issue with our chief,” she said.

“It’s awful, it’s damaging, it’s embarrassing, and we need good leaders in those positions that are going to make change for our community members.”

Lake St. Martin First Nation is about 225 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, in the Interlake region.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Malak Abas
Reporter

Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.

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