The Lake Babine Nation in Burns Lake says the sexual assault charges currently against former mayor Luke Strimbold is a betrayal of trust.
The alleged charges against Strimbold were made public on Friday, less than two years after he resigned as mayor in September of 2016.
“I know there were questions on why he suddenly resigned as mayor, he said he was going to help the family business and pursue his education,” says Wilf Adam, Lake Babine Nation Chief.
He adds the amount of young people who are negatively affected by this has made the surrounding community very angry.
“Well, to me it’s more than shock I’m very angry on what happened and you know this guy had a lot of trust in the community and then he does this to young people, it’s not right.”
“What he did has damaged a lot of people, a lot of young people, innocent people and we’ll do our best to help them cope with this.”
The nation is offering their facility as a place of refuge for those who have been victimized but encourage people to speak with the police ahead of time.
“Ever since the story broke there have been people coming in and asking how they can be helped and that’s where we come in, to help as much as we can but the first thing they have to do speak with the RCMP, anyone who has been affected by this should talk with the police first.”
Strimbold was BC’s youngest mayor at age 21 and worked closely with Adam during a sawmill explosion in 2012.
After leaving office two years ago, he worked at his families forestry company called E.A. Strimbold and became president of the Burns Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Burns Lake RCMP or Crime Stoppers.
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