Policy change needed after way daycare sex assault was communicated: parent

Reports of the sexual assault of children at an Edmonton daycare at the hands of an employee has led to a push for changes to how incidents are reported.

An Edmonton father has filed a complaint over the way allegations of sexual assault against one of their daycare’s employees was communicated to families.

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Thomas Kyle is asking Edmonton Police Service and the Alberta government to review their public communication policies in cases involving child safety.

His son was cared for by Willowbrae Academy Millcreek until August, when he aged out.

The allegation by another family was made and investigated in Kyle’s son’s last months at the facility.

Kyle says too little information was shared with families, and that more communication was warranted given the level of public interest, opportunity to identify other victims, and credible risk to public safety.

“I think what parents are wanting to see from this is not blaming individuals or institutions, but we’re running for assurance that this won’t happen going forward. That’s the most constructive path that we can hope for: to never see this happen again,” Kyle told CTV News Edmonton in a recent interview.

Timeline of events and communication

• Mid-June: A four-year-old girl at Willowbrae Academy Millcreek discloses abuse in a shed in the facility’s backyard to her mother.
• June 18: Willowbrae reports the allegation to Alberta’s Early Learning and Child Care office.
• “Late June”: Police are involved after Willowbrae had already put the accused employee on leave, according to documents Kyle received through a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) request.
• July 16: Canada-wide warrants for sexual assault and sexual interference are issued for 32-year-old Dilpreet Singh Chawla.
• August: Willowbrae informs families of a serious incident at the daycare and directs them to more information posted on the facility’s bulletin board, which refers to there being an “inappropriate interaction in a shed” and police laying charges, according to Kyle.
• “Early September”: A second family files a complaint with Edmonton police, according to the FOIP documents.
• Sept. 8: At a town hall for Willowbrae families, a victim’s mother shares the sexual nature of the allegations, according to Kyle.
• Sept. 22: EPS confirms the accused, Chawla, is not in Canada.
• Dec. 3: EPS confirms to CTV News Edmonton that Chawla faces charges involving two children.

Situation did not meet threshold for police news release: FOIP

Kyle’s frustration over the communication to families began with the notice that referred to an “inappropriate interaction in a shed.”

“That didn’t tell us as parents if there was more than one kid involved (or) what the charges were related to. An ‘inappropriate interaction’ can really mean a lot of things,” he said.

So to hear the nature of the charges at the September town hall was horrifying, he told CTV News Edmonton.

“I think that allegations need to be investigated, but the time to start communicating with families would have been in July when criminal charges were laid.”

Why police had not done this was only one of the questions Kyle had after the town hall and which led to him filing the FOIP request and complaint to EPS.

The documents he received revealed that the situation, as it looked in July, did not meet EPS’ threshold for issuing a news release.

“At the time warrants were issued, investigators believed this may have been an isolated incident. Since the accused was no longer in the country and parents had been notified by the daycare, there was no broader concern for public safety,” read notes prepared for the police chief.

Dad looking for policy change, not to point fingers

As far as Kyle can tell, both the daycare and police followed protocol accordingly. That is his concern.

About his complaint, he said, “It isn’t looking to blame individual officers. But my goal is for them to review their policies in cases like this.”

Kyle added, “A media release would serve the purpose of warning the community that their children may have been impacted, and it would have allowed us to talk to our children earlier and seek help for them. In my mind, it’s not only warning the community about the presence of the accused, but it serves a purpose of identifying victims.”

EPS said it could not comment on Kyle’s complaint while it was being investigated.

Kyle also met with senior members of the education and child care ministry to discuss his concerns and desire for the child-care regulator to be the agency that communicates serious issues, rather than the facility.

He feels the government is taking the issue seriously.

Speaking to reporters at the legislature on Wednesday, Minister Demetrios Nicolaides called Kyle’s ideas “practical and straightforward.”

“We’ll be taking a close look at the Early Learning and Child Care Act and accompanying regulations to see if there’s more that we can do and make sure that parents are notified," Nicolaides said.

The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service has not yet decided whether to extradite Chawla.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson and Nicole Weisberg