Changes made: Assiniboia man with 73 sexual offences against minors

This story contains content some readers may find disturbing.

Changes were made to the charges an Assiniboia man is facing during Moose Jaw Provincial Court on Wednesday.

Richard Dyke, 47, is facing a total of 73 charges of sexual offences involving minors. The change has one charge of voyeurism changed to a count of making child pornography. He appeared in Moose Jaw Provincial Court on Wednesday via video from the Regina Correctional Centre.

Dyke was originally arrested at a home-based daycare in Assiniboia in November of last year on three counts of sexual assault, three counts of sexual interference, two counts of sexual touching, three counts of making sexually explicit material available to a person under the age of 16, and one count each of voyeurism and possession of child pornography.

At the time, police believed the incidents took place in the mid-2010s and three male youth under 12 years old were involved.

In May, the RCMP announced that 60 additional charges would be laid against Dyke. Investigators identified 29 additional victims between the ages of 18 months to 17 years old. Police say the offences occurred between 2005 and 2023. It’s alleged that the majority of the victims came into contact with Dyke at home-based daycares.

The charges laid in May included:

14 counts of sexual assault
14 counts of sexual interference
Nine counts of voyeurism
23 counts of making child pornography
In court on Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Rob Parker withdrew those charges and submitted a new file of 60 charges, with one count of voyeurism being changed to making child pornography.

Questions also remain about who will be representing Dyke. Estes Fonkalsrud represented Dyke on Wednesday and had been the lawyer on record for him.

Fonkalsrud, who was asked to take on the case from Legal Aid, told the court that Legal Aid is reviewing the file to see whether Fonkalsrud will stay on the file or whether it will go back in-house. Fonkalsrud remains the lawyer on record for Dyke until Legal Aid decides how it is going to handle the new charges.

Dyke will make his next court appearance on Aug. 28.