INSIDE: Coroner from Chilliwack faces disturbing charges Pg. 3 October 8, 2010
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LOCAL NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER & ENTERTAINMENT chilliwacktimes.com
Sex crime nets ex-chief jail time BY PAUL J. HENDERSON phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com
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ormer Aitchelitz band hereditary chief Jimmy George was sentenced to 14 months in jail in Chilliwack court Wednesday for sexual interference with a person under the age of 16. He was also given three months probation, ordered to undergo counselling and given a lifetime prohibition from attending public parks, public swimming areas or other places where persons under the age of 14 might be present. George sat next to his lawyer with his head bowed during sentencing arguments and when asked by Judge C.B. MacArthur if he had anything to say, he quietly uttered: “I’m so sorry” before breaking down. The sexual interference dates back to May of this year, but few details can be published. This is not the first sex crime for which
Former hereditary chief Jimmy George sentenced to 14 months in prison
George has been found guilty. In 2006, he stepped down as head of the society that runs Xyolhemeylh Child and Family Services, which provides child protection to native bands, after it was made public he was sentenced to three years in jail for sexual assaults on one or more Chilliwack girls in the 1980s. When the sexual interference charge was made public in June, George was suspended from his board of directors position at the Sto: lo Nation Society. Crown counsel Lori Stevens asked the judge for a sentence between 12 and 14 months. Stevens said while the actual touching was above the clothing and of “a minimal nature,” George had a previous conviction for sexual assault and was in a position of authority.
The court was told that during a police interview when asked about the incident George said that he wasn’t going to lie. “’I’m in a position where I’m going to lose everything,’” Stevens quoted George saying in the report. George’s lawyer Gurpreet Gill WEB FIRST First reported on said that while George did not chilliwacktimes.com want to make any excuses for his conduct and is very remorseful, the incident was an isolated one. Gill argued that his “desperate act” was because he couldn’t face the pressures of life—at home and as chief—and felt a criminal act such as this was a way out. See GEORGE, page 6
Paul J. Henderson/TIMES file
The case of former Aitchelitz chief Jimmy George, seen here with Premier Gordon Campbell in 2008 at the Stehiyaq youth healing centre, was called ‘tragic’ by the judge at George’s sentencing hearing Tuesday.
Senior caught in medical crossfire
BLESSING A PRICKLY PRAYER
BY CORNELIA NAYLOR cnaylor@chilliwacktimes.com
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Paul J. Henderson/TIMES
Sonic the hedgehog—we kid you not—is held by Rev. Jennifer Burgoyne as the critter is blessed by Rev. John Sovereign at the annual pet blessing at St. Thomas Anglican Church on Saturday.
Burnaby senior who was stuck at Chilliwack General Hospital for almost three weeks after surgery for a broken femur was caught in the crossfire of a dispute between the Fraser Health Authority and orthopedic surgeons, according to a spokesperson for the surgeons in the Fraser Health region. Margaret Bailie, 86, broke her leg while vacationing in Point Roberts, Wash., last month and was taken across the border to the Delta hospital. Instead of being transferred to Peace Arch or Surrey Memorial— the hospitals that normally accept Delta’s orthopedic cases (Delta doesn’t offer orthopedic surgeries)—Bailie was shipped 115 kilometres to Chilliwack. She arrived heavily medicated with low blood pressure and was
Case brings to light dispute between FHA and surgeons
having trouble breathing, according to her daughter, Colleen Mullen. “She was almost comatose,” she said. “I actually had a nurse tell me that most patients that come in as bad off as she don’t always make it.” It was no overstatement. Last week, another senior—80year-old Rose Lee—who was shipped from Burnaby to Chilliwackwithacompoundlegfracture, died at Vancouver General Hospital after being moved five times See SENIOR, page 7
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