Former Gjoa Haven teachers face multiple sex charges

DWANE WILKIN
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — Police have charged two former teachers at the Kekertak Ilihakvik School in Gjoa Haven with nearly two dozen sex charges.

All of the offenses are alleged to have occurred within the school, and all charges, except for one count, relate to times when the two co-accused were teachers at the school.

“I’m pretty sure people are going to be shocked,” Natilik MLA Uriash Puqiqnak said upon learning of the charges Monday, “because it’s not part of our life.”

The sex offences allegedly took place between 1972 and 1988 and range from sexual assault to indecent assault on a female. The RCMP says most of the complainants were school-age children at the time of the offenses.

The pair were arrested over the weekend following a year-long investigation that was triggered by former students at the school, some of whom are now in their 30s.

“One person started coming forward, and in her statement had given the names of other students who could possibly be involved,” RCMP Staff Sergeant Tom Blum said. “From that it developed to where there was something like 100 or 120 possible students who had to be interviewed.”

The suspects, both residents of Gjoa Haven, have been released with conditions, pending their first appearance before the Nunavut Court of Justice, which is scheduled to sit in the Kitikmeot community on October 19.

Puqiqnak, who was saddened by the allegations, reflected on the trust that parents must place in educators when their children attend school, and predicted that news of the charges would give Gjoa Haven residents “a broken heart.”

But the police investigation and the resulting charges won’t shake their faith in the value of education, he said.

“As a community, as parents, we believe in the school system,” Puqiqnak said.

Ben Kogvic, 43, an employee of the Nunavut Water Board in Gjoa Haven, faces 18 sex-related charges.

Abraham Hiqniq, 43, a truck driver, has been charged with 10 sex-related charges.