Sex assault charges stayed after former chief’s death

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This article was published 29/11/2022 (513 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former Manitoba First Nations chief accused of luring and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl died in August, resulting in a stay of charges by the Crown.

The Free Press learned of Raymond Keeper’s death while seeking an update on his court case Wednesday.

His lawyer, Tim Valgardson, said his office was informed by a funeral director on Aug. 9 that Keeper had died on Aug. 6.

Keeper was being treated for an illness at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, said Valgardson.

The charges were stayed on Aug. 19, according to court records.

Keeper, 66, was chief of Little Grand Rapids First Nation when RCMP officers arrested him in October 2021.

He was charged with two counts of sexual assault, and single counts of sexual assault with a weapon, luring a minor and being a person in a position of authority and touching for a sexual purpose.

Keeper also faced charges of careless storage of a restricted firearm, possession of a restricted firearm without a licence and possession of a firearm obtained by the commission of an offence, according to RCMP and court records.

When the charges were announced, police said they believe there were more victims.

In March, the RCMP said additional people were being interviewed as part of the investigation.

Previously, police said charges were laid after they received a report Sept. 23, 2021, of inappropriate text messages between a man and a 16-year-old girl.

The sexual assaults were alleged to have occurred in July and September 2021.

Accessible by air and winter road, Little Grand Rapids is about 265 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, near the Manitoba-Ontario boundary.