The criminal case against a Richmond man who allegedly posed online as a modelling agent, only to sexually assault and steal from his female victims, is heading to B.C. Supreme Court.
Crown prosecutors have pared down 11 criminal charges, from last March, to eight indictments against 29 year-old Novid Dadmand following a lengthy investigation by Richmond RCMP.
“The Crown actually concluded they would not proceed with charges to three complainants, but approved charges with a substantial likelihood of conviction,” said Crown spokesperson Neil MacKenzie.
Cpl. Dennis Hwang said he couldn’t say why the investigation took so long.
The eight charges include seven counts of sexual assault against six women, five of whom were living in Richmond at the time of the incidents, which date back to 2008.
Two charges are for incidents that occurred in 2014, said MacKenzie.
The other charge is for break and enter while an initial charge of fraud was dropped.
After Dadmand’s initial charges were publicized, more women came forward with complaints against him, leading to an even lengthier investigation, according to RCMP.
Mounties also searched Dadmand's computers and online use to find other potential victims.
"Through that avenue of investigation we have identified other victims or potential victims," Richmond RCMP superintendent Rendall Nesset told the News last summer.
"Further to that, alleged victims have come forward through their own volition after hearing Mr.Dadmand is before the courts. So it’s a combination of those two avenues that we've come up with more cases," he said.
Earlier, Nesset had told Richmond's safety committee of a case that involved 45 files, in explaining why the RCMP's monthly report showed such a spike in the average number of sexual assault cases.
Police allege Dadmand — who also goes by the name Robert Paeko — convinced victims to meet with him for a photo shoot in exchange for money and gifts. It's during those meetings that the majority of the alleged offences took place.
A publication ban prevented the RCMP from divulging any details of the victims, including age.
Nesset said the case against Dadmand took time due to the complexities of the digital investigation.
“I know that for the investigators, from their perspective, this is probably one of the most complicated matters that they’ve dealt with. It’s very unique and very complicated and we’ll see that when the circumstances come out in court,” said Nesset.
He noted a case such as this emphasizes the need for RCMP to remain on top of digital innovations.
“We have special training for members so they can seize a computer without losing any of the data because sometimes people will protect their data whereby if someone tries to enter their computer it auto erases everything,” said Nesset.
No date has been fixed for the case, said MacKenzie.
