Forty Years of Silence: The Long Road to Justice for Calgary Survivors
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After four decades, Richard Hubert Jones has been convicted of serial rapes targeting mothers and a teenager. We examine the resilience of the victims who endured the wait.
Q: Who has been convicted, and what were the specific crimes?
A: As CBC News first reported, 72-year-old Richard Hubert Jones has been convicted of nine offences related to three rapes carried out in Calgary throughout the 1980s. Jones focused his attacks on single mothers and a young girl who were alone with children at the time.
Q: What are the details regarding the attacks on the survivors?
A: The crimes occurred over a span of roughly a year, as detailed in an agreed statement of facts reported by CBC News:
* **February 20, 1984:** T.N., then 13, was babysitting her eight-year-old brother when Jones broke into her Thorncliffe home. Jones led the boy to a bedroom before raping T.N. and threatening to kill her if she spoke out. * **March 1984:** C.T., a 30-year-old single mother, was attacked after falling asleep while reading bedtime stories to her nine-year-old son. CBC News reports she attempted to protect her son, and after an initial attack in the living room, Jones led her by the neck to the child's bedroom where he raped her, later threatening her against identifying him. * **June 1985:** N.C., a 33-year-old single mother, was attacked in southwest Calgary. Jones told her he had been watching her for three days before raping her near a staircase. N.C.'s 12-year-old daughter witnessed the aftermath, finding her mother "in shambles."
Q: Did all the survivors live to see this conviction?
A: No. CBC News reports that N.C., the mother attacked in 1985, died in 2007, meaning she passed away before Richard Hubert Jones was charged or convicted.
Q: How was a cold case from the 1980s finally solved after 40 years?
A: While Calgary police investigated at the time, the case went cold. CBC News reports that detectives from the Calgary Police Service sexual assault and cold case units eventually used genealogy databases. After family members submitted DNA to these databases, investigators matched Jones' DNA to samples collected from the crime scenes, the victims, and their clothing. This led to his arrest in May 2023.
Q: What happened during the legal proceedings, and what is the current status of the defendant?
A: During a hearing last month, Jones admitted his DNA matched the police samples and signed an agreed statement of facts. CBC News notes that defense lawyers Lance McClean and Julie Grivel called no evidence and did not argue against the conviction. Justice Christopher Simard ruled that the Crown proved the identity of the rapist beyond a reasonable doubt.
Currently, Jones remains on bail. A sentencing date will be set later this week, and the Crown indicated that victim impact statements will be filed as part of that process.