This story contains graphic details about the sexual abuse of a child. Reader discretion is advised.
Interior Healths former chief medical health officer will face sentencing in June, after he was convicted earlier this month of sex crimes against a child.
Dr. Albert de Villiers was convicted of sexual interference of a child and sexual assault on Feb. 7, following a three-day trial in January in Grande Prairie's Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. Due to the "Kienapple principle," which states a person cannot be convicted of two offences as a result of the same act, the sexual assault charge was stayed.
Following a brief court appearance Monday, de Villiers' sentencing hearing was scheduled for June 12 and 13 in Grande Prairie. While de Villiers' is believed to still be living in Kelowna, he'll have to travel back to Grande Prairie for the sentencing hearing.
De Villiers worked as Interior Health's chief medical health officer from the summer of 2020 to June 2021, when the charges were laid against him. Prior to moving to the Okanagan, de Villiers worked as a medical health officer for Alberta Health Services for 16 years. The allegations he's been convicted of occurred while he was employed by Alberta Health Services.
During trial, the court heard testimony from the victim, who's now 11 years old. He was between seven and nine years old when the assaults occurred.
The child, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, told his mother in May 2021 that de Villiers had previously shown him pornographic videos during several sleepovers, and touched his penis. He said de Villiers had put his mouth on the child's penis. The child told police the assaults occurred "again, again and again."
The family then contacted police and De Villiers was arrested the following month.
During trial, De Villiers denied the allegations against him. He claimed that an apologetic voicemail he left for the child's father had to do with him feeling bad about overstepping his role as a friend, by playing a quasi-parental role in the child's life, and not for sexually assaulting the man's son.
Justice Shaina Leonard did not believe de Villiers.
"I do not believe the accused," she said in her ruling. "I find that the text of the voicemail is clear, that the accused is apologizing for something specific that had occurred, and that the accused knew what he was apologizing for.”
She found that de Villiers assaulted the child somewhere between five and eight times.
A sexual interference conviction carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year, and can carry a maximum sentence of up to 14 years jail.
De Villiers remained employed by Interior Health after the charges were laid against him, bringing in a six-figure salary. Interior Health announced on the day he was convicted that he had been fired.
De Villiers is facing separate child sex charges, stemming from allegations between January 2017 and December 2019 in Alberta. He's scheduled to face trial on those charges in August.
