Alberta boy testifies about alleged sexual abuse by former B.C. Interior top doctor

An 11-year-old Alberta boy told court Tuesday about being sexually assaulted by the former chief medical officer of health for British Columbia's Interior region.

Dr. Albert de Villiers is on trial in Grande Prairie, Alta., facing one charge of sexually assaulting a child and one charge of sexual interference that he's alleged to have committed between June 15, 2018, and July 31, 2020. 

The doctor was in court on Tuesday, and stood to plead not guilty to both charges. The judge-alone trial in Court of King's Bench is scheduled to last three days.

De Villiers worked as a medical officer of health for Alberta Health Services in North zone for 16 years. He moved to Kelowna in 2020 to work as the chief medical officer of health for Interior Health.

In May 2021, the child, then 10 years old, came to his parents with allegations that de Villiers, a close family friend, had abused him and shown him pornographic videos.

The boy's identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban. He was called as a witness but many details of his account were laid out when a video recording of his 2021 interview with police was played in court.

In the video, the child tells a police officer that he would sometimes sleep over at de Villiers's home, where he lived with his wife. Sometimes, his sibling would also stay over. 

The boy said that during one of the sleepovers, de Villiers told him "where babies come from" and then showed him explicit videos. Describing the alleged assault, he said he was told he could touch de Villiers and that de Villiers then touched him sexually.

"My heart felt pain," the boy told the officer. "It didn't feel right."

He said the assault occurred more than once. 

The child told the officer he was hesitant to tell his parents what had happened because the doctor had warned him not to.

"He said he can go to jail, so don't tell mom and dad," he said. "I felt a little bit sorry for him."

In court Tuesday, the boy was asked again about what happened, and to go over some aspects of his statement, telling prosecutor Amber Pickrell that what happened "made me upset and angry."

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Chris Millsap asked the child about details of his account that differed when he'd told it at different times.

He asked the 11-year-old boy if he told his mom about being touched by de Villiers because he was scared he'd get in trouble for watching the explicit videos, and the boy agreed.

But when Millsap put it to the child that the sexual assault never happened, the child insisted that it had. 

Family friends

The child's father also testified Tuesday, explaining his family became close friends with de Villiers and his wife when the family moved to the area in 2018.

He said his son and de Villiers grew especially close, and that the little boy would refer to the doctor as an "uncle" and once as his "grandfather."

He said the first time his children went to stay at the de Villiers's place, it was because he and his wife needed to go to Edmonton for a function. More sleepovers followed, and sometimes only his son would go. 

He said when his son shared the allegations with his wife on May 28, 2021, they went directly to RCMP. 

De Villiers was placed on paid leave by Interior Health on June 8, 2021, the same day he was arrested and charged with offences against the young boy.

After his leave, De Villiers returned to active work and was reassigned to administrative duties, Interior Health said in September 2022.