CALGARY—A trial date has been set on child sex abuse charges against a longtime employee of a performance group that entertains each year at the Calgary Stampede. Philip Heerema faces 22 charges which include child pornography, sexual assault, luring a child via a computer and inciting sexual contact with a youth. His four-week trial is to begin Jan. 15, 2018, before a judge and jury. Police began investigating in January 2014 after they received a complaint from a student and his parents of an inappropriate relationship with a “person of authority” in The Young Canadians troupe. Investigators said that after the initial complaint was made, other men came forward, who were all between 15 and 18 years old at the time of the alleged offences.

Source: thestar September 23, 2016 19:07 UTC