Athabasca RCMP are investigating the source of a series of anonymous allegations made last week against incumbent Athabasca County Division 9 candidate Mike Demko, which accused him of sexual harassment and distributing pornography, as well as challenging his performance as a county councillor.
Sgt. Brian Scott said the focus of the investigation, initiated by a complaint made by Demko, is how the information contained in anonymous mail-outs and emails was obtained.
“How it was communicated from point A to point B ... where did it originate, and where it ended up,” Scott said Friday. “At this point in time, no charges have been laid and no one has been arrested.”
He noted that the RCMP’s technical crimes division is involved in the investigation.
Scott also confirmed that the allegations made towards Demko are not themselves a subject of the investigation.
“He’s not under investigation at all,” Scott said.
On Oct. 8, women living in Division 9 (Richmond Park) received a letter, allegedly authored by “Deb”, a former Athabasca County employee. In the letter, “Deb” claims that Demko “gave me a lot of unwanted attention that made me deeply uncomfortable.”
The letter requests “woman to woman” that its recipients “try to defeat Mike Demko” by voting for his opponent in the Oct. 18 municipal election.
Then, on Oct. 11, an email was sent anonymously to the Athabasca Advocate, all members of county council, county manager Gary Buchanan, Alberta Municipal Affairs, and the Alberta Human Rights Commission.
The email alleges that on March 13, 2009, Demko sent graphic pornographic images from his personal email account to recipients that included a female Athabasca County employee.
Finally, earlier last week, a newsletter was mailed to Division 9 residents that challenged Demko’s record as a county councillor. It included allegations that Demko was responsible for increased county spending; that his personal expenses billed to the county were “extreme and unprecedented”; that he was involved in “secretive government and backroom deals”; and that he had a “jihad” against the proposed new Second Chance Animal Rescue Society shelter in Division 9.
Though he refused to comment at length, Demko has denied the allegations.
“I’ve been told not to talk about this, not at this time,” he told the Advocate Friday, but added, “We all know it’s false. The people know it’s false.”
Athabasca County Reeve David Yurdiga came to Demko’s defense, claiming that the allegations against him are without merit.
“All the stuff that’s going around is a fabrication,” he said Friday. “It’s just a blatant attempt to smear one’s character. It’s assassination of that character.”
Yurdiga said that while some of the issues mentioned in the newsletter were, in fact, matters that county council has addressed, the newsletter skews the information.
“There’s some element of truth, but it’s so twisted that it doesn’t represent reality,” he said. “It doesn’t reflect what actually happened.
“There’s maybe one-tenth of reality there and nine-tenths of twisting.”
Yurdiga said whoever produced the anonymous mail-outs and emails will be identified.
“We’re going to catch the individual or individuals involved,” he said. “It’s being investigated by the RCMP.”
