Manitoba man accused of historic child sexual assaults has criminal past involving young people
Man previously pleaded guilty in 2000 for 3 indecent acts that involved minors
UPDATE: Joseph Floyd Delaney was convicted in September 2024 of one count of assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching involving two victims. The other six charges have been stayed.
Warning: This story contains graphic content readers may find disturbing.
Court documents reveal a Lundar, Man., man recently charged with a series of historic sexual assaults involving children has been previously convicted of sexual offences involving young people.
Joseph Floyd Delaney, 65, was arrested in February in connection with nine offences, including sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching dating back to the 1980s and 1990s.
The charges involve three different children, all of whom were around 10 years old at the time of the alleged abuse.
Police said they were contacted in December by a survivor of sexual abuse, and two more accusers came forward after they began investigating.
Some, but not all, of the kids met Delaney through a church theatre group he ran, police added.
The theatre group was operated out of Grant Memorial Baptist Church on Wilkes Avenue, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
In an email last week, executive church leadership said they had not been contacted by Winnipeg police and learned of the allegations and ties to the church through media reports.
"We cannot express how deeply grieved we are when we think of any harm done to the victims and their families," the statement read. "We pledge our full support and open cooperation in doing whatever we can to support any further investigation."
Past convictions involve victims under 14
CBC News has learned that Delaney was previously convicted of three indecent acts in September 2000 involving three different victims in Winnipeg.
According to court documents, he pleaded guilty to an indecent act for "unlawfully and repeatedly for a sexual purpose" exposing himself to a boy under the age of 14 between January 1998 and March 2000.
Delaney pleaded guilty to a second indecent act for repeatedly exposing himself to a different boy under the age of 14, for a sexual purpose, between July and September 1999.
He was also convicted of an indecent act for exposing himself to another male victim in Winnipeg in the fall of 1999.
Delaney was sentenced to three months in jail followed by three years of supervised probation, which included a requirement he attend, participate and complete a sexual offender program as directed by probation services.
Released on recent charges
The 65-year-old made his first court appearance on his most recent charges in late February in Winnipeg.
He was released from custody under a series of conditions including that he live at his residence in Lundar — a community he told the court he moved to in June 2020.
He is not permitted to leave the province without permission from a judge; he must not be in contact with the three complainants and he must not have any contact or communication with anyone under the age of 16.
Delaney is prohibited from attending parks, public swimming areas, daycares, school grounds, playgrounds and community centres, where minors are likely to be present.
He is also barred from seeking, obtaining or continuing employment or volunteering in a position that puts him in authority over a person under the age of 16.
When asked if he understood the conditions, Delaney told the judicial justice of the peace that he cuts hair and asked if he could continue to cut a child's hair if a parent was present to supervise.
"Am I going to be allowed to be with someone even in the presence of their parent?" Delaney said.
The judicial justice of the peace told Delaney that would not be allowed. Delaney agreed to the conditions.
None of the allegations against him have been proven in court.
Delaney's lawyer, Roberta Campbell, told CBC News in an email, "Mr. Delaney will be contesting the new charges. It goes without saying he is presumed innocent."
Delaney's next court appearance is scheduled for May 31.