The RCMP are investigating allegations of abuse dating back several decades at a central Alberta Bible college.
Mounties in Three Hills began looking into the allegations this week after administrators at Prairie Bible Institute directed the RCMP to rumours swirling on the Internet and after a complaint was filed.
RCMP Sgt. Tim Taniguchi said Friday night the investigation is very new, but the allegations are not.
"It's a historical abuse case, but I am not sure of the circumstances of the abuse," said Taniguchi. "It's with the RCMP, and the local detachment is looking into it."
It's a difficult time at the Christian college, said Linda Brinks, a member of the board.
"Nobody wants to hear that maybe hurtful things happened to anybody at any time, and there's a sense of grief that there's people out there maybe carrying pain around and have for a long time," said Brinks, who has been appointed by the board as a contact person for the public and other potential abuse victims.
Brinks would not speak about the number of possible victims, although one website dedicated to discussing the allegations says there are dozens of cases of abuse, including physical, emotional and sexual.
"Our desire is to be as open and transparent as possible, and we're not desiring to cover anything up; but so far, they are just allegations," she said Friday.
Brinks said school officials are confident in the investigation.
"The RCMP are the right people to investigate," she said. "We trust that anyone who is still hurting will get some closure in their life, whether through pressing criminal charges or through dialogue with the school. We hope the investigation will provide answers to questions about who was abused and who was guilty of it."
President Mark Maxwell posted a letter on the institute's website stating the alleged incidents date back several decades.
"The individuals purportedly involved are no longer at Prairie," reads the letter, dated Tuesday. "Nevertheless, we feel it is appropriate to respond and to emphasize our commitment to seeking truth and transparency."
Maxwell said in an interview that he's not aware of any criminal activity in the school's history, but he believes the online allegations seem "real enough" to warrant concern about the school's past. "I want to know the truth," said Maxwell, who has been the school's president for about a year and a half. "I want to know who's been injured. I want to know who did it, and help bring that to resolution."
Catherine Darnell, 56, started the Facebook group in September for alumni of the college, located northeast of Calgary. Darnell says that as a child she suffered sexual, physical and emotional abuse from staff at the non-denominational Protestant school, which for many years was known for its strictness and insularity.
"(I started the group) to open up dialogue regarding abuse and hopefully to get people to come forward if they've been impacted," said Darnell, who now lives outside Fergus, Ont. She says her abusers are now dead.
Linda Fossen, a Prairie alumnus who has written about being abused by her father - who also was a student at the school - says she has heard from more than 80 victims, mostly staff kids who were sexually abused.
This week, Fossen, who lives in Florida, filed a complaint about the abuse with Three Hills RCMP.
In addition to the Facebook page, Fossen keeps a website in which she has posted all her correspondence with school officials.
In one dated Nov. 11, she told Maxwell she was going to make the allegations public.
Taniguchi said Friday he didn't have any information on the number of victims.
The institute, founded by L.E. Maxwell, first opened on Oct. 9, 1922. Since then, the Christian post-secondary institute has expanded to include Canada's oldest Bible College, Prairie Bible College, known for its missionary training program, as well as the Prairie College of Applied Arts & Technology.
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