Former Nunavik police officer, performer Charlie Keelan arrested again
Quebec’s bureau of independent investigators says there may be more victims
Charlie Keelan performs at the 2019 Aqpik Jam in Kuujjuaq with his band Saali & the Ravenhearts. He was arrested in Kangiqsualujjuaq Sept. 16 and faces multiple sex-related charges involving minors. (File photo)
Updated Sept. 20 at 4:40 p.m. ET
Former Nunavik police officer and musician Charlie Keelan faces seven more sex-related charges.
Keelan was arrested in Kangiqsualujjuaq on Sept. 16 after a months-long investigation, Quebec’s Independent Investigation Bureau said in a news release Friday.
This is the third time Keelan has been charged for crimes of this nature. This time, charges relate to incidents alleged to have happened between 2001 and 2006 in Quaqtaq.
The alleged victims were 15 and 16 years old at the time, the release said.
Keelan faces two counts of sexual assault, three counts of sexual contact, and one count each of incitement to sexual contact while in a position of authority and forcible confinement, according to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions office.
The 49-year-old appeared in court on Sept. 17 and again on Friday.
In an interview Friday, Keelan’s lawyer Émilie Breton-Côté said Keelan’s court appearance was by videoconference and he is currently being detained in Kangiqsualujjuaq.
She said Keelan’s bail hearing was postponed to Sept. 24.
Nunavik Police Service headed the investigation, according to the release, which was followed up by a team from the independent investigation bureau.
The team was then given permission by Quebec’s Ministry of Public Security to take charge of the investigation and examine all allegations against Keelan between 1997 and 2020.
“The investigation is ongoing, and investigators at [the investigation bureau] have reasons to believe that other people may have been victims of Charlie Keelan,” said the release.
In 2021, Keelan served a three-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to a series of sexual assaults that took place in Quaqtaq and Kangirsuk between 1995 and 1997.
Keelan has also been convicted of sexual offences involving a minor in a 1999 incident in Kuujjuaq, when he was an officer with Kativik Regional Police.
Note: This article was updated to include information from Charlie Keelan’s lawyer
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