Former B.C. public health officer charged with more sex offences involving minors in Alberta

B.C. doctor facing more sex offences The former top doctor in B.C.'s Interior region has been charged with three more sex offences involving minors in Alberta.

A former senior public health official in British Columbia has been charged with three more sex offences, police in Alberta say.

Albert de Villiers was charged earlier this week with invitation to sexual touching, voyeurism and making sexually explicit material available to a child, the RCMP in Grande Prairie said.

In a news release Thursday, the detachment said the 54-year-old who lives in Kelowna is scheduled to appear in court in September.

He appeared briefly this week, then was released on several conditions. Those conditions include that he not be in the presence of anyone under the age of 16, unless supervised.

The latest charges stem from a tip police received in January about offences involving a child that were alleged to have occurred between January 2017 and December 2019.

The former top doctor in B.C.'s Interior Health region was charged last year with sexual assault and sexual interference.

Mounties said it was reported that those offences allegedly occurred between June 2018 and July 2020.

At that time, de Villiers was working as a public health official in Grande Prairie. He was hired by Interior Health as chief medical health officer in August 2020.

A spokesperson confirmed Thursday that de Villiers remains employed with the health authority, but did not say in what capacity. Interior Health told CTV News it could not provide further information "due to privacy obligations," and because the case is before the courts.

An interim chief medical health officer, Dr. Sue Pollock, was appointed in June 2021.

When the first charges were announced, a spokesperson for Interior Health could not say whether de Villiers had undergone a criminal record check or other vetting before being hired.

Although the charges date back to when de Villiers was in Grande Prairie for work, police said at least the first case had no ties to his employment.

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Penny Daflos