Terry Haskell charged with sexual abuse of children in Red Deer

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

On August 10, police received a report that an elderly man had offered several children sweets, invited them to his apartment and sexually abused them.

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

Terry Haskell, 71, was charged with:

• sexual harassment of a minor under 16 years of age;
• sexual abuse of a child under 16 years of age;
• Inviting sexual contact;
• indecent acts; and
• two cases of violation of probation conditions

Haskell was brought before a justice of the peace and remanded in custody.

A court date has been scheduled for December 14 in Red Deer.

“Given the nature of the allegations, we believe there are other victims who are afraid to speak out,” Sergeant Gary Kroeker said in a news release. “With the accused currently in custody, we want to give others the opportunity to come forward. We want to reassure them that they are safe to speak to us, that we will follow up on the information they provide and connect them with the resources they need to get through this.”

According to police, the defendant may have used the name “Candyman,” pretended to be in his thirties and asked for children's phone numbers.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to immediately call the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Red Deer at 403-406-2200.

Haskell was previously charged in 2019 in Olds, Alabama, after a child was shown photos of a man's genitals at a playground.

In 2021, he was also charged after a man exposed himself to children in Innisfail, Alberta.

CTV News Edmonton has reached out to the Alberta Ministry of Justice for more information on the previous charges against Haskell.