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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Canadian national pleads guilty to sex abuse charges

David Colburn
Posted 1/26/22

TOWER- A former Ontario Provincial Police officer pled guilty last week in federal district court in Minnesota to sexually abusing two young girls while he was a guest at Fortune Bay Casino Resort in …

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Canadian national pleads guilty to sex abuse charges

Posted

TOWER- A former Ontario Provincial Police officer pled guilty last week in federal district court in Minnesota to sexually abusing two young girls while he was a guest at Fortune Bay Casino Resort in 2018.
Brady John Hillis, 32, of Kenora, Ontario, pled guilty on Jan. 18 to two counts of abusive sexual contact with two girls in the arcade and pool areas of the resort on June 22, 2018. Hillis also stipulated in his plea agreement to inappropriately touching a third girl in the pool area, but he was not charged in that incident.
All three incidents, which occurred over the period of less than an hour, were captured on the resort’s security cameras, according to court documents.
In the original indictment, Hillis was also charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 12, a charge that carries a minimum 30-year to maximum lifetime prison sentence. Prosecutors agreed to drop that charge in exchange for the guilty pleas on the abusive sexual contact charges.
“We are pleased that Brady John Hillis was found guilty and hope he receives the maximum sentence for his deplorable actions,” Bois Forte Tribal Chairwoman Cathy Chavers said in a statement issued after the plea was announced. “We are truly appalled by his behavior, especially given the fact that he was a police officer in Kenora at the time of his actions. Our hearts go out to the minors who crossed paths with Hillis that day in June of 2018. As stated previously, Bois Forte will not tolerate any child being mistreated or abused. The most fundamental duty we have is to protect our youth and the vulnerable.”
Chavers also said that it was a “grave disservice to the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa that Hillis’ actions have stained the reputation of Fortune Bay Resort Casino. Rest assured he is banned from ever stepping foot on our reservation again.”
Hillis, the children, and their parents were all guests at the resort hotel on June 22, 2018, according to U.S. and Canadian court documents. After one child told her siblings and parents about her encounter with Hillis, they immediately reported the abuse to resort security, who in turn contacted local law enforcement. Canadian sources indicated that the Federal Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation, then permitted Hillis to return Canada, where he immediately reported the incident to his superiors at the Ontario Provincial Police.
Approximately two months after the incident, U.S. authorities initiated the process to have Hillis extradited to the U.S. to be arraigned and tried on the three-count indictment in Minnesota U.S. District Court. Hillis was subsequently detained by Canadian authorities and fought the extradition order on the grounds that it was unreasonable, legally flawed, and failed to consider relevant precedent. At issue, in part, was the large discrepancy between Canadian and U.S. law regarding penalties for the aggravated sexual abuse charge. Under Canadian law, Hillis would have faced a likely sentence of 90 days to three years if convicted of all three offenses, whereas 30 years was the minimum sentence for only the aggravated sexual abuse charge in the U.S.
A ministerial review concluded in June 2021 that Hillis’s petition was without merit, and he was subsequently deported to the U.S.
Under U.S. sentencing guidelines referenced in the plea agreement, Hillis could be sent to prison for as few as 5-1/4 years to as many as 19-1/2 years. He is also subject to a fine of between $25,000 and $400,000. As the guidelines are advisory only, U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim will have full discretion to determine the final penalties for Hillis at a sentencing hearing scheduled for May 19.