Alberta RCMP have laid charges against a 53-year-old man following an investigation into allegations of sexual assaults that occurred between 2018 and 2020, and are continuing to investigating in communities where the accused may have been, including Drumheller.

In Nov. 2020, Vegreville RCMP received reports of alleged sexual offences that had taken place between 2018 and 2020. The Vegreville RCMP worked in partnership with the Alberta RCMP Serious Crimes Branch Provincial Investigative Support Unit to further investigate these allegations. It is notable that the Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit of ALERT and the Zebra Child Protection Centre also provided assistance during this investigation.

All of the offences in this investigation are alleged to have taken place between 2018 and 2020 in the Vegreville area and involve teenage female victims who were known to the accused.

On April 15, 2021, RCMP investigators executed a search warrant at a residence in Edmonton and arrested Brad Dahr. The search resulted in the seizure of various electronic devices, documents and clothing.

Brad Dahr (53) of Edmonton is charged with the following offences:

Between Jan. 1, 2018, and Oct. 31, 2019:
· Sexual interference (x2)
· Voyeurism

Between April 1, 2020, and Oct. 31, 2020:
· Sexual exploitation
· Luring a child
· Possession of child pornography
· Distribution of child pornography
· Making sexually explicit material available to a child

Following a judicial hearing, Dahr was released with conditions and is scheduled to appear in Vegreville Provincial Court on May 3, 2021.

The RCMP are continuing their investigation and are asking the public to come forward with any similar type incidents in the following areas across Western Canada, including Edmonton, Vegreville, Drumheller, Beiseker, and Beauvallon, Alta.; the Lower Mainland, BC; and Yellowknife, NWT.
In order to eliminate the possibility of other victims, Alberta RCMP are distributing a photograph of the accused at approximately the time of these offences.

Brad Dahr has also been widely known in the above areas as “Pastor Brad” and is described as:

260 lbs
6’ tall
Bald with a light brown fringe
Blue eyes

If you have information, please contact the Vegreville RCMP at 780-631-2750 or your local police. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), online at www.P3Tips.com, or by using the "P3 Tips" app available through the Apple App or Google Play Store.

While overall it appears crime has been trending down in the Drumheller Detachment area, the first quarter of 2021 showed some significant changes.
In the urban and rural areas of the Drumheller detachment, whole property offenses such as break and enters and theft generally trended downwards, crimes against persons in the urban area took an upward swing. Charges of uttering threats rose by 16 occurrences compared to the same period in the previous years, and up 143 per cent compared to the same period from 2017-2021. Charges of criminal harassment assault and sexual offenses also rose. Offensive weapon charges also increased, as did disturbing the peace. Spousal abuse also saw an increase in reporting compared to the previous year.
These numbers did not appear to have changed in the rural areas the detachment serves.
Staff Sergeant Ed Bourque says there are different contributing factors to this ride, including more enforcement.
“We have definitely seen a spike in our persons crimes as of late. We are really not 100 per cent certain what it is in relation to,” he said. “We kind of expect that in the spring, into summer, it would potentially pick up, but we are seeing it a little earlier this year.”
He said, to some extent, Drumheller could be affected by conditions having to do with larger criminal occurrences.
“To a large part, the threat charges could be from some turf wars right now with some of the takedowns our Crime Reduction team has done. With some of the busts, it changes the dynamics a little bit. That may be the cause for a bit of a spike for on person crime,” he said.
While it doesn’t show up in the statistics, the detachment has been busy working with Alberta Health Services and Drumheller Bylaw Enforcement during the pandemic.
“It is definitely relevant right now,” said Bourque. “I know we have done a few assists with Public Health and Bylaw, attending to keep the peace. We also have quarantine checks that come from our agency…basically they send out tasks to our members to go and check-in and making sure people are quarantining the 14 days like they are supposed to.”