Charges laid in Courtenay sex assault

Comox Valley

2023-06-22 13:43 PDT

File # 2023-819

A 58-year old man has been charged with sexual assault against a youth and investigators believe there may be additional witnesses or people with information valuable to the investigation.

In January 2023, the Comox Valley RCMP began an investigation after allegations that a youth had been assaulted by a local fitness instructor. The offences allegedly occurred between September 2022 and December 2022.

In February 2023, the fitness instructor was arrested and released on strict conditions including not to have any contact with anyone under the age of 19 without written permission and not to be in a position of trust or authority towards a person under the age of 19 years.

In June 2023, the BC Prosecution Service approved a charge of sexual assault against Richard Zinger of Courtenay, BC.

The safety of our local youth is one of our top priorities here in the Comox Valley and we are committed to working tirelessly to have an environment in which they can feel safe and free of exploitation. Said Cst. Monika Terragni, Media Relations Officer, Comox Valley RCMP. We believe there may be witnesses out there with information about these incidents and would like to encourage them to come forward and speak with one of our investigators

Anyone with information is asked to call the Comox Valley RCMP at (250) 338-1321 and refer to file 2023-819.

Released by:

Email: monika.terragni@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

Follow Us: