Manitoba man wrongly charged by RCMP in child abuse case speaks out

A Manitoba man wants an apology from police after the RCMP wrongly named and charged him in connection with an alleged teenage sexual exploitation case in Portage la Prairie.

Scott Joseph Taylor, 34, was one of seven people named in an RCMP news release following an investigation that found teenagers were lured into sex acts with men in exchange for drugs and money.

“I’ve been threatened by the public. I’ve had death threats. My house has been sprayed and vandalized,” Taylor said of his life since police released his name on July 9.

“It’s just horrible. The stress that I’ve been living under, my family has been living under, my friends. It’s just horrible.”

The press release states that Taylor was charged with unsafe storage of weapons and providing sexual services to a person under the age of 18 after police searched his Portage la Prairie home.

On Friday, more than a week after the initial release, the Mounties sent an update saying Taylor was not involved in the incident and that his charges had been dropped.

Although the police had acquitted him, that did not stop him from beating him up on Sunday, leaving him with a black eye because the police had said he was involved.

“This has destroyed my life, my reputation, my mental health, everything. I want an apology and I think I deserve one,” Taylor said.

After he was arrested, someone spray-painted the words “certified pedophile” on his house, his life was threatened on social media and he no longer dares to leave his home, Taylor told CBC.

He doesn’t know how his name got involved, but he says he’s grateful he had a good legal team to clear his name.

Police search his house

Taylor said he was on his way to a shooting range with a neighbor on July 4 when police knocked on his door, arrested him and took him to jail.

Then he found out that the police accused him of being involved in an exploitation case involving the sexual abuse of teenage girls.

RCMP allege that a First Nation woman from Long Plain befriended two teenagers and took them to different homes in Portage la Prairie. At each location, a man provided drugs in exchange for sexual acts from the teens, RCMP said.

According to the RCMP, the teens were unable to escape because the woman had locked them in.

Police announced at the time that 65 charges had been filed against those involved in the alleged crimes. Five men face a number of charges in connection with the incidents, including sexual assault, sexual interference and child luring.

“I was shocked,” Taylor said of the allegations.

Man wrongly accused in child abuse case speaks out

Scott Taylor, 34, says he was beaten and his home vandalized after the RCMP wrongly charged him in a horrific case involving the alleged sexual exploitation of teenage girls.

Taylor’s attorney, Matt Gould, said he received a call shortly after Taylor’s arrest and immediately noticed flaws in the way the arrest was conducted.

“There were a lot of questions from Scott when I first spoke to him because he said, ‘This doesn’t make any sense. I had nothing to do with these people,’” Gould said.

Gould could not go into details because the other arrests are still before the courts, but he said there were things that were easy to verify that could have shown police they had the wrong person.

“What he looks like, where he works, the people he associates with and the people he doesn’t associate with,” Gould said.

“And I have contacted prosecutors and highlighted the glaring inconsistencies in my client’s identification.”

Gould sent a photo of Taylor to the Crown, which told them to show it to the complainant and eyewitnesses. He said prosecutors acted quickly when Gould pointed out the inconsistencies and took it “very seriously.”

The RCMP’s update that Taylor was not involved was “insufficient and insulting to Scott Taylor,” Gould said.

There is no apology and it still refers to the firearms found in Taylor’s home, Gould noted

Taylor said the guns were left out because he planned to go to a shooting range with his neighbor and he is a registered gun owner.

According to the police, appropriate measures have been taken

In a prepared statement, an RCMP spokesperson said that in any investigation, it is their responsibility to find the truth. The spokesperson said investigators followed all appropriate investigative steps and when it was determined that one of the accused was not involved, immediate steps were taken to have the charges stayed.

Taylor said his message to the RCMP is to conduct a thorough investigation before charging anyone with such a serious crime.

“Because this has ruined my life. What you did to me has ruined my life. This has ruined my family’s life. That’s my message,” he said.