Former CBC Producer Arrested for Sexual Assault of a Minor

Police cars are parked outside Vancouver Police Department headquarters in Vancouver on Jan. 9, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

A former CBC Vancouver producer has been charged with sexual assault of a minor.

Vincent Papequash, 30, has been charged by the B.C. Prosecution Service on one count of sexual interference and one count of sexual assault. The charges stem from allegations of his engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with a minor.

Mr. Papequash was employed as an associate producer with the public broadcaster in its Vancouver office, and had previously worked out of CBC Ottawa.

The accused was detained by Vancouver police on July 29, the same day the alleged incident took place in East Vancouver, police said.

Sgt. Steve Addison said in a statement to CBC that Mr. Papequash was released by the court and will appear again on Sept. 13.

There is a court-ordered publication ban on some details of the alleged assault because the alleged victim is under 16 years of age.

Under Canada’s Criminal Code, sexual interference occurs when someone “for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of a person under the age of 16 years.”

CBC Vancouver has removed a biography page about Mr. Papequash from its website, and he has deleted his social media accounts.

An IMDb self-penned profile says Mr. Papequash studied radio and television production at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and lives in Edmonton.

CBC spokesperson Chuck Thompson was quoted on the network as confirming Mr. Papequash “was an associate producer in its Vancouver newsroom but is no longer an employee,” CBC reported. Mr. Thompson stated he could provide no further details.

“The allegations have not been proven in court,” he said.

In 2014, former CBC radio personality Jian Ghomeshi was fired after accusations of sexual assault against the celebrity host surfaced in the fall of that year. On Oct. 26, the Toronto Star published accounts from three unnamed women who claimed Mr. Ghomeshi had attacked them during dates with him.

The women, nearly 20 years younger than Mr. Ghomeshi, alleged he engaged in non-consensual physical aggression during sexual encounters. Mr. Ghomeshi’s legal representation denied the allegations on Mr. Ghomeshi’s behalf, asserting he neither participated in non-consensual role play nor non-consensual sexual activity.

After over a month of deliberation, on March 24, 2016, Judge William Horkins acquitted Mr. Ghomeshi on four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking.

On May 11, 2016, the crown withdrew the last remaining charge of sexual assault, which was to be dealt with at a separate trial in June 2016.