{"id":90978,"date":"2025-04-02T12:14:14","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T16:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=90978"},"modified":"2025-04-02T12:14:14","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T16:14:14","slug":"sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brittany Hobson The trial for a First Nations chief in Manitoba who is accused of sexual assault has begun in Winnipeg. Christopher Traverse, who was the leader of Lake St. Martin First Nation at the time of his arrest last year, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, sexual interference and child pornography Monday (March 13) morning in provincial court. Court heard from the complainant who was eight-years-old at the time of the alleged offences. In a video statement played in court, the girl claimed Traverse forced her into a bathroom in his home in Winnipeg in December 2023, took photos of her and sexually assaulted her. Investigators became aware of the allegations after the girl\u2019s mother found one of the photos on the girl\u2019s cellphone and reported it to… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brittany Hobson The trial for a First Nations chief in Manitoba who is accused of sexual assault has begun in Winnipeg. Christopher Traverse, who was the leader of Lake St. Martin First Nation at the time of his arrest last year, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, sexual interference and child pornography Monday (March 13) morning in provincial court. Court heard from the complainant who was eight-years-old at the time of the alleged offences. In a video statement played in court, the girl claimed Traverse forced her into a bathroom in his home in Winnipeg in December 2023, took photos of her and sexually assaulted her. Investigators became aware of the allegations after the girl\u2019s mother found one of the photos on the girl\u2019s cellphone and reported it to... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nSexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brittany Hobson The trial for a First Nations chief in Manitoba who is accused of sexual assault has begun in Winnipeg. Christopher Traverse, who was the leader of Lake St. Martin First Nation at the time of his arrest last year, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, sexual interference and child pornography Monday (March 13) morning in provincial court. Court heard from the complainant who was eight-years-old at the time of the alleged offences. In a video statement played in court, the girl claimed Traverse forced her into a bathroom in his home in Winnipeg in December 2023, took photos of her and sexually assaulted her. Investigators became aware of the allegations after the girl\u2019s mother found one of the photos on the girl\u2019s cellphone and reported it to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-02T16:14:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sandy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sandy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/02\\\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/02\\\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sandy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/12f8efd2d424c9cd820883abe58a7d4b\"},\"headline\":\"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-02T16:14:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/02\\\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":158,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/02\\\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/02\\\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/02\\\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-02T16:14:14+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/02\\\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/02\\\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/04\\\/02\\\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/12f8efd2d424c9cd820883abe58a7d4b\",\"name\":\"Sandy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sandy\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/sandy\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Brittany Hobson The trial for a First Nations chief in Manitoba who is accused of sexual assault has begun in Winnipeg. Christopher Traverse, who was the leader of Lake St. Martin First Nation at the time of his arrest last year, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, sexual interference and child pornography Monday (March 13) morning in provincial court. Court heard from the complainant who was eight-years-old at the time of the alleged offences. In a video statement played in court, the girl claimed Traverse forced her into a bathroom in his home in Winnipeg in December 2023, took photos of her and sexually assaulted her. Investigators became aware of the allegations after the girl\u2019s mother found one of the photos on the girl\u2019s cellphone and reported it to","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2025-04-02T16:14:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sandy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sandy","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Sandy","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/12f8efd2d424c9cd820883abe58a7d4b"},"headline":"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg","datePublished":"2025-04-02T16:14:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/"},"wordCount":158,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Local News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/","name":"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-02T16:14:14+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/sexual-assault-trial-for-lake-st-martin-first-nation-chief-begins-in-winnipeg-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sexual assault trial for Lake St. Martin First Nation chief begins in Winnipeg"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/12f8efd2d424c9cd820883abe58a7d4b","name":"Sandy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e4c0a8df37fbe0583e334d8b74c87c99f14ab1104d94e53dc20264e5cac775e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sandy"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/sandy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90979,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90978\/revisions\/90979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}