Ed Horne, a notorious sexual abuser of Inuit boys in the 1970s and 1980s, is dead, reports from Guatemala say. (Photo courtesy of the Northwest Territories Archives)
‘Arctic predator’ Ed Horne dead in Guatemala: News report
Convicted child sex predator abused Inuit boys in the 1970s and ’80s
Ed Horne, the notorious sexual predator who abused more than 100 Inuit boys in Nunavut and served two jail sentences for his crimes, is dead.
He died in hospital in Guatemala City, Guatemala, according to a news reporter who has been covering Horne’s mysterious arrival at the hospital. Horne was 81.
Horne died at Hospital San Juan de Dios in Guatemala City on Tuesday night from septic shock, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and kidney disease. It’s also believed Horne was suffering from dementia. He had been in hospital since June 30.
Reporter Ashley Monzón with TV Azteca Guate reported that Horne was brought to hospital by paramedics who picked him up near the town of Sanarate. Horne was reportedly on his way to Nicaragua when he fell ill.
Horne was born in Bella Bella, B.C. He started teaching schoolchildren in B.C. in 1965. He taught at Quesnel; Mile 392 on the Alaska Highway; Lower Post Indian Residential School at Lower Post, B.C.; then worked as a librarian at Silverthorne Elementary School in
Houston, B.C., before moving to the Eastern Arctic in 1971.
Horne began his Eastern Arctic teaching career in Sanikiluaq. After his first year, he resigned his position and worked at the Sanikiluaq Co-op.
The next year, Horne worked for the Co-op in Resolute Bay for four months. He applied to return to Sanikiluaq but was rejected on the advice of the local advisory board, so from 1974 to 1975 he taught school in Great Whale River (now Kuujjuaraapik).
By 1975, Horne was able to return to Sanikiluaq as a teacher, where he stayed until 1977.
Horne’s teenage classroom assistant Alec Inuktaluk disappeared in the spring of 1977. The boy’s body was never found, and the mystery surrounding his disappearance often involved Horne who some people believed killed the boy because he was going to report
Horne’s predations to the authorities.
Horne always denied the rumours.
A month after Alec Inuktaluk vanished, Horne married Jeannie Cookie from Great Whale River. She died in Montreal in March 2024 at the age of 78.
The Hornes moved to Cape Dorset (now Kinngait) in 1978, where they would live for two years.
In 1980, Horne transferred to Grise Fiord for one year. Then, in 1981 he moved to Iqaluit to work on curriculum development. The next year, he moved back to Cape Dorset, and then moved to Lake Harbour (now Kimmirut) in 1983.
In the fall of 1985, Horne moved to Apex to be principal of Nanook School.
He was arrested for child abuse at his home there in October 1985 after social workers and RCMP worked together to uncover his predations in Cape Dorset and Lake Harbour.
In February 1987, after entering a guilty plea, Horne was sentenced to six years for 11 charges involving eight boys he sexually abused between 1983 and 1985 in Cape Dorset and Lake Harbour. Horne was paroled in 1990. He moved to Mexico in 1995, where he worked as a teacher of adults.
There were many more victims who eventually spoke to police, launching a new investigation. In March 1999, Horne was arrested at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport while returning from Mexico.
Ed Horne, a notorious sexual abuser of Inuit boys, is seen in an undated picture working as a bicycle courier in Toronto. Horne died Tuesday in Guatemala, news reports in the Central American country say. (Photo courtesy of Kathleen Lippa)
He was charged with 66 counts of sexual offences between 1970 and 1985, against 44 male complainants in Sanikiluaq, Cape Dorset, Grise Fiord, Lake Harbour and Iqaluit.
Horne pleaded guilty again, and signed an agreed statement of facts just like in the first case, where what he agreed what happened was less severe than what boy victims reported to police and social workers.
He received a second jail sentence of five years after pleading guilty to abusing 23 boys.
By 2005, Horne was back in Canada facing more charges stemming from his time as a teacher in the North. In that case, he would plead not guilty. He was acquitted in 2008, and moved to Nicaragua where he lived until 2016.
Two civil lawsuits against the governments of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut resulted in huge settlements for more than 100 male victims and one female victim.
It is unclear why Horne moved to Toronto, where he was working in 2022 as a bicycle courier.
He may have moved to Guatemala this year.
Kathleen Lippa is the author of Arctic Predator: The Crimes of Edward Horne Against Children in Canada’s North, published by Dundurn Press earlier this year.
I’m of two minds on whether it was appropriate for Nunatsiaq News to publish this rather lengthy biographical piece on the death of Nunavut’s most prolific child sexual predator. One the one hand, I understand that some people may want to know the sordid details of this animal’s life, in addition to the unspeakable crimes that he committed. But, on the other hand, I think it’s a shame that he gets this final moment of publicity by the newspaper on this death. There have been so many outstanding people who have made immense contributions to Nunavut who have left us without any public mention or acknowledgment by this newspaper. And yet this horrible person gets this news space and publicity on his death.
It just doesn’t sit well with me. But, like I said at the beginning, this is a difficult issue as to what and how much to cover in these cases. But, I think that we need to think more about the victims and speak less about the sexual predators.
I agree, I’d like to see the notable people in our communities recognized, and to hear their stories.
The writer of this piece authored a book about Horne. We need people in our communities to do the same, or at least to reach out to a journalist, who indeed should make themselves available.
I’m glad this story was told. The publicity does nothing to benefit him. His name will live in infamy. We need to remember these tales as well.
I think some of Nunavut’s home-grown predators need to be showcased. Everyone is so polite and pretends they know nothing when it’s a local guy. I was glad to read about Horne, but I want to know what the local and contemporary predators on children are up to, as well. Now THAT would be interesting reading. I wonder why we never hear so much about those guys?
From a survivor of child molestation and rape, I know why I was sexually abused for so many years, Justice. It was the male dominated grandparents, uncles, fathers, brothers and best friend’s of the family who not only sexually abused me but other members of the family. It was the family members who placed their index finger to their lips and telling us not to tell anyone of what was happening to me. That they would give us money to stay quiet. They also told us that if I told anyone that no person would believe a child over an adult. Over the years I turned into a violent alcoholic because drinking alcohol until I was in a stupor allowed me not to feel the hurt, pain, anger, embarrassment and hate I hate for the men who actually raped and sexually assaulted me. Today, I am in my 60’s and I forgave all members of the family and other men who raped and sexually assaulted me and I have turned my life around completely. I have no time to have other mens actions to ruin my life today. I have to take care of my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I believe I became a Protector of women, young girls and boys by placing myself between the evil people who wanted to rape and sexually assault my sisters, younger, older and young brother. Especially my mother. If Nunatsiaq News employees will allow this to be posted I know many other people will agree with what I have stated. Be Strong. Forgive. Change. Love and Acceptance.
I am sorry you had to endure so much pain and suffering when you are growing up, these predators Ed Horne and the residential schools have done so much damage to our people, lasting generational trauma, we have boys and girls getting molested and raped by men and women over the years since these child predators came up here, we really need more support with mental health services, healing centres not beer and wine stores and cannabis stores.
I wish our government and Inuit organizations would do more in this field, we have the highest suicide rates in the world, highest food insecurity, crimes, yet they all pretend we are fine and everything is great, let’s concentrate on mining conferences, national security, things that don’t address what we really need addressed first, care before the horse or qamutik before the dogs.
Who is really running our governments here?