Security Company Fined After Guard Raped

A security company has been ordered to pay $92,750 after a female security guard was raped by an intruder at an unsecured construction site in Calgary nearly five years ago.

The victim had been a security guard for only a short time before the attack. The woman, now 39, told a reporter that the entrance to the building was covered only by a tarp.

The guard had no means of protecting herself if an intruder walked under the tarp and that’s exactly what happened. She called a dispatcher to report that she had heard banging noises and voices on the worksite.

The call was transferred to a 911 operator and while the guard was on the telephone an intruder walked into the area. He then sexually assaulted her.

Police arrested Renno Lonechild at the scene. He was later sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment.

Garda Canada Securities Corp. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety of a female guard.

Judge Marlene Graham said it was far from unlikely that an intruder would enter the unsecured site at night in the winter, for warmth, theft or another purpose.

Graham said the security guard had been put in a “patently unsafe” position and the company had shown a high degree of negligence.

Garda must pay a $5,000 fine and $750 victim fine surcharge, as well as donating $87,000 toward the Hazard Assessment Working Alone program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary.

The prosecution is the first of its kind under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act and it may set a precedent in Canada.

Info to go: Read more about lone worker safety by clicking on the Info to Go safety links at www.SafeSupervisor.com