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Former Burns Lake mayor charged with sex crimes to plead guilty

Luke Strimbold faces a total of 29 charges involving six boys, from May 2009 to July 2017
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A former mayor of Burns Lake intends to plead guilty after he was charged with dozens of sexual offences, many involving children.

Luke Strimbold was charged a year ago with 11 counts of sexual assault, 11 counts of sexual interference, and seven counts of invitation to sexual touching involving six boys under the age of 16, from May 2009 to July 2017.

Strimbold’s lawyer appeared in B.C. Supreme Court in Smithers on Monday, indicating his client intends to enter guilty pleas, though it was not clear how many or to which charges.

Strimbold became the youngest mayor in B.C. when he was elected in 2011 at the age of 21. He was re-elected in 2014, but stepped down, both as mayor and membership chair for the BC Liberal Party, in 2016.

He is scheduled to enter the pleas on May 6.

READ MORE: Burns Lake reeling after former mayor charged with sex assault

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Thom Barker

About the Author: Thom Barker

After graduating with a geology degree from Carleton University and taking a detour through the high tech business, Thom started his journalism career as a fact-checker for a magazine in Ottawa in 2002.
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