Edmonton man charged in child sex offences, other victims sought in Alberta, B.C, N.W.T.

An Edmonton man has been charged with a series of sexual offences against teens in an east-central Alberta town, and police have launched a search for other victims in Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.

Brad Dahr, 53, has been charged with offences that took place in the area of Vegreville, Alta., about 100 kilometres east of Edmonton, between 2018 and 2020, RCMP said Friday in a news release.

The teenage female victims were known to him, RCMP said.

Vegreville RCMP first received reports of alleged offences in November 2020.

The resulting investigation, which included Alberta RCMP’s serious crimes branch and the Alberta Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit, saw Dahr arrested Thursday at an Edmonton residence.

Now investigators are seeking other potential victims in a handful of municipalities in western Canada. These include the Alberta communities of  Edmonton, Vegreville, Drumheller, Beiseker, and Beauvallon, as well as Yellowknife, N.W.T. and B.C.’s Lower Mainland.

“Dahr has also been widely known in the above areas as ‘Pastor Brad,'” RCMP stated in the news release.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for the Alberta Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church confirmed to CBC News that Dahr had been a pastor with the organization for around 14 years.

Administration became aware of the allegations of sexual misconduct on Oct. 31. They accepted Dahr’s resignation the next day and immediately contacted police and provincial authorities.

The conference also revoked Dahr’s ministerial credentials.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Vegreville RCMP at 780-631-2750.

Dahr is charged with sexual interference and voyeurism, relating to incidents between Jan. 1, 2018, and Oct. 31, 2019.

He also faces charges relating to incidents between April 1, 2020, and Oct. 31, 2020. Those charges include sexual exploitation, child luring, possessing and distributing child pornography, and making sexually explicit material available to a child.

Dahr is scheduled to appear in Vegreville Provincial Court on May 3.