Man pleads guilty for sexual abuse of six boys in northern Manitoba
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/09/2021 (1819 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
WINNIPEG – A man has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing six boys and showing pornography to them and other boys in a northern Manitoba community.
Arnold Collier, 54, admitted in a Winnipeg courtroom Tuesday to the sex assaults between 2017 and 2020. Court heard the victims were all under the age of 16 and Indigenous.
Collier also pleaded guilty to breaching court orders that he not contact a previous victim from a 2018 conviction or associate with anyone under 16.
There is a publication ban on information that could identify the victims or witnesses. The Canadian Press is not identifying the community where the abuse happened.
The Crown prosecutor and defence lawyer said they will submit a joint recommendation of 22 years in prison, minus credit for time Collier has already served in custody.
He is to be sentenced in Thompson, Man., on Dec. 1.
Collier sat quietly in the back of the small courtroom as a long statement of facts was read into the record.
Collier is originally from New Brunswick. He moved back and forth from the Maritimes to the northern Manitoba community where he workedas a mechanic.
He was convicted of sexual interference in 2018 and was ordered not to have contact with children or the original victim.
Court heard that people still saw boys coming and going from his home after the conviction. Court also heard girls were never allowed at the house.
The boys were from impoverished homes, the statement said. It said Collier would give them marijuana, beer and cigarettes. He would also give them money and have them sleep over, court heard.
He would ask the boys to watch a movie but instead put on pornographic videos, the statement said.
In some cases, Collier would ask the boys for sexual favours or if he could perform sexual acts on them, the statement said. Court heard some complied, feeling they had to to keep receiving gifts. Other times he would touch the boys while they were sleeping, court heard.
One of the boys told police about the abuse in August 2020. Soon after, several others came forward and Collier was arrested.
Following Collier’s arrest, RCMP said that providing gifts is a common way offenders groom their victims.
“What occurred in this small community is devastating,” RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre said at the time.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2021.