After a 7 day trial this month at the Penticton Law Courts 50 year old Ron Teneycke has been found not guilty on 5 criminal charges. The incident in the summer of 2011 involved a Penticton women whose identity cannot be released due to a ban on publication. Teneycke had picked her up July 31 on the highway and ultimately landing up on a back road behind OK Falls.  Teneycke was charged with sexual assault, assault with a weapon, unlawful confinement and failure to obey a court order.

Mr. Justice James Willams said testimony of the accused and the victim lacked some credibility but on a legal point of “beyond a reasonable doubt” he had to rule that the Crown’s fragile case was not proven. The accused walked out of the court house a free man this morning.

The BC Supreme Court Judge said Teneycke had a long criminal record but that played no role in his decision making process. Justice Williams said the victim was on an anti-depressant, cocaine and alcohol and appeared to consent to sexual intimacies based on the testimony he could believe.

From RCMP Files – story August 2nd, 2011

After receiving a report of a sexual assault made by a victim who managed to flee from her assailant July 31, 2011 in OK Falls, RCMP located and arrested known high risk sex offender Ron Teneycke.

(Officers released a public safety notification in 2007 warning the community of Oliver that Teneycke, a high risk sex offender, had moved into the area after serving 12 years in a federal prison in connection)

RCMP received a call from a frantic woman from an OK Falls payphone stating that she had just managed to escape from her attacker nearby home. Investigators met the woman and took her into their care.

Uniformed officers attended a home on 10th Avenue in OK Falls and took Ron Teneycke into custody without incident. Investigators believe that Teneycke picked the 42 year old woman up at around 7pm along Hwy 97 near the Airport. The woman accepted the ride with Teneycke who was driving a white 1990 Cadillac who then drove to Keremeos then continued back to the OK Falls area over the Cawston-Fairview Rd. The woman stated to investigators that Teneycke then drove to a remote cabin located near OK Falls at which point she became concerned for her well being.

small photo taken by Deborah Pfeiffer of Castanet