Alberta senior in custody after allegedly luring children with candy, sexually assaulting them

A Red Deer senior is in custody for allegedly luring children into his apartment with candy.

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On Aug. 10, police got a report that an older man had offered candy to a number of children, invited them into his apartment, and sexually assaulted them.

The incident reportedly happened on several different occasions with different children.

Terry Haskell, 71, has been charged with:

• sexual interference with a minor under the age of 16;
• sexual assault of a child under the age of 16;
• invitation to sexual touching;
• indecent acts; and
• two counts of breach of probation

Haskell was taken before a Justice of the Peace and remanded into custody.

A court date has been set for Dec. 14 in Red Deer.

"Given the nature of the allegations, we believe there are other victims who may be afraid to talk about it," Sgt. Gary Kroeker said in a news release. "As the accused is currently in custody, we want to give others the opportunity to come forward and assure them they are safe to talk to us, that we will follow up on the information they provide, and we will connect them with the resources they need to get through this."

Police say the accused may have used the name "candyman," claimed to be in his 30s and asked for children's phone numbers.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Red Deer RCMP immediately at 403-406-2200.

In 2021, Haskell was found guilty of exposing himself to a person under the age of 16 and sentenced to six months in jail.

He has also previously been charged with other criminal offences, but those charges were withdrawn.