Lake St. Martin chief declares innocence after being charged with sex assault

 By Dave Baxter  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter A First Nations chief charged with sexually assaulting a child is proclaiming he is innocent and said he has no plans to voluntarily walk away from his leadership position. Charges of sexual assault, sexual interference and child pornography charges against Chief of Lake St. Martin First Nation Christopher Traverse were announced Wednesday. The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) confirmed the chief of the community located in the Interlake, about 200 kilometres north of Winnipeg, was arrested in February and court records say alleged offences happened on Dec. 29, and involve an elementary-school-age child. Traverse was released on bail. Traverse took to Facebook on Wednesday to state his innocence and said that he has and will continue to be cooperative with police, even now that…

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