A registered sex offender is alleged to have used his apartment in Kelowna and his family’s cabin at Mount Baldy to engage in “unlawful activity,” including child sexual abuse.
Graham Dodge has a lengthy history of criminal charges related to child sexual abuse material, dating back to 2008, and the suit claims that he used his condo, and his parent’s cabin to facilitate some of the crimes he has been convicted of.
Dodge was first charged with sexual assault, possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material and supplying liquor to a minor in 2008. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to nine months in jail plus a three-year period of probation.
Two years later, Dodge was found guilty of breaching the conditions of his probation after acting inappropriately with a 14-year-old boy and communicating about pornography with a 16-year-old over Skype.
Then, in 2013, Dodge was caught approaching boys at the Penticton Public Library and served 15 months in prison for breaching the terms of his probation.
At the time, Dodge told police he had “relapsed” because one of the boys fit his type and was “very cute.” He conceded that he had made the wrong choice to speak with the boys in the library and planned to work on controlling his “addiction.”
Dodge was arrested again in 2020 after an investigation into a Child Sexual Abuse Material ring in Australia found several Canadians associated with receiving illegal footage.
READ MORE: Kelowna man sentenced after second incident of child sexual assault
Dodge was among those named in the investigation. When police arrested Dodge at his Kelowna condo, a 16-year-old boy was in the residence.
The investigation into the offence also revealed that Dodge brought youth to his family’s cabin at Mount Baldy and supplied minors with drugs and alcohol.
Dodge ultimately admitted to engaging in sexual acts with a boy who was 13 years old and entered a guilty plea for sexual assault and possession of sexual abuse material. The other allegations stemming from the 2020 investigation have not been proven in court.
At a sentencing hearing in June 2023, Dodge was handed four years and 93 days in prison for the possession of child sexual abuse material and sexual assault and received more than three years of credit for time already served ahead of sentencing.
On March 13, 2024, Dodge was arrested at his home in Kelowna and was charged with possession of child sexual abuse material and breaching probation orders. He is accused of attending locations where youths frequent and attempting to photograph minors.
Dodge is currently in custody and in addition to criminal charges, he has been served with a civil claim requesting the forfeiture of two “instruments of unlawful activity,” which are properties belonging to him and his parents.
The two properties named in the suit are Dodge’s primary residence, the condo located on Houghton Road in Kelowna, and his family’s cabin, located at Mount Baldy.
The suit alleges Dodge used both the condominium and cabin to, among other things, commit sexual assault and sexual interference against persons under the age of 16 years, and to access, possess, produce, and distribute “child pornography”.
The suit also claims that the properties are both proceeds and instruments of unlawful activity. This means that the properties may have been purchased by funds garnered through crime or have been used to commit criminal activity.
While the cabin at Mount Baldy is owned by Dodge’s parents Dale and Roberta Dodge, the suit states the couple either knew or “ought to have known the manner in which G. Dodge used the cabin and is likely to use the cabin in the future. “
“D. Dodge and R. Dodge were willfully blind to the manner in which G. Dodge used the cabin,” claims the suit.
The Office of Civil Forfeiture is requesting that both of the properties, their proceeds, and profits including rent, be turned over to the provincial government.
None of the allegations in the most recent civil suit have been proven in court.
The Dodges have 21 days to respond to the claim, which was filed on May 27.
