by Glenn Taylor
Northern News Services

INUVIK (Apr 18/97) - A former Grollier Hall employee under investigation by the Inuvik RCMP for sexual assault has been charged in Vancouver with possession of child pornography.

Paul LeRoux, 57, was arrested by Vancouver city police April 10. A search of his home netted "one of the largest seizures of (child pornography) ever made" in Vancouver, according to Const. Anne Drennan, media liaison officer for Vancouver police.

LeRoux was already under investigation by Inuvik RCMP for an alleged sexual assault at Grollier Hall in the mid 1970s. A search of Grollier was carried out in January by Inuvik RCMP.

Yellowknife RCMP Sgt. Tom Steggles -- who is handling the case -- could not be reached to find out whether any charges have been laid in the matter yet.

LeRoux left Inuvik 18 years ago for Vancouver, where recently he worked as an investigator for the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Vancouver police entered his home under search warrant April 2 and discovered hundreds of items of child pornography in the form of videotapes, magazines and photos.

Police also seized his diaries and accessed his Internet account looking for more materials.

LeRoux will appear in a B.C. court April 25 to answer the charge. In the meantime, he has been released on condition that he not be alone with anyone under age 18, and that he not leave the province. He has forfeited his passport and must report to a bail supervisor.

Leroux was charged and convicted in 1979 for sexual assault in Inuvik. He served four months for that charge but was later pardoned.

Drennan refused to say what led police to LeRoux. She would only say that the investigation was conducted jointly by Vancouver police and RCMP in B.C. and the NWT.

If convicted, LeRoux could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail.