Predator intends to plead

A convicted child sex offender who allegedly assaulted a child at a Kelowna equestrian facility while on probation earlier this year intends to plead guilty in December.

Taylor Dueck has multiple prior convictions for sexually assaulting minors, but he was regularly attending a Kelowna equestrian centre with a supervisor in 2023 and early 2024 while serving a three-year probation term.

He was arrested on Feb. 9 of this year after he allegedly sexually assaulted an 11-year-old girl at the facility. He's remained behind bars since his arrest.

While Dueck elected in June to face a judge-alone trial, it appears he has now struck a plea deal with the Crown instead.

After a recent court appearance, Dueck is now scheduled to return to court on Dec. 30 where he intends to enter a guilty plea, according to online court records.

It's not clear what charge or charges Dueck intends to plead guilty to. He currently faces charges of sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching and breach of probation.

Many similar convictions

Dueck, 30, has served several years in jail for a number of child sex offences. He served a 4.5-year sentence for sexually assaulting four different teenage girls in 2014, including one incident where he threatened the teen with a knife during the assault.

He then served another jail sentence from June 2022 to February 2023 for a sexual interference conviction. It appears he abided by his probation conditions for a year before the alleged February 2024 incident in Kelowna. Part of his probation conditions prohibited from attending any place where young people were present.

But Dueck appears to have been allowed to attend the equestrian facility while a child was present, while his supervisor, an employee of Community Living BC subcontractor Personal Lifestyle Support Ltd., allegedly sat in a car in the parking lot.

Premier David Eby called the incident a “massive failure of judgment” at every level, calling the subcontractor “obviously negligent and incompetent.”

Investigation ordered

Following Castanet's reporting on the Feb. 9 incident, Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth ordered an investigation into any possible systemic failures that allowed for the alleged assault to occur.

“I am extremely concerned, in fact very angry over what has happened, that's why I have ordered an investigation for a full accounting of what took place — involving all provincial agencies and federal agencies and officials that were involved in this situation," Farnworth said back in late February.

"I want to ensure that these were not systems failures. I want to ensure that everything that should have been done was done, because quite frankly this should never happen.

While Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General spokesperson Chris Donnelly told Castanet back in May that the results of the investigation were “expected to be released in the coming months,” that hasn't occurred in the four months since.

The owner of the equestrian facility told Castanet she was not informed about Dueck's long history of violent sexual offending.

"Horrific. One of the most horrific moments in my life. A little girl got hurt here," the owner said in March. "Had I been given all the facts and allowed to make a decision, I would have said no."

Dueck remains behind bars after he was denied bail in March.