'It's our story': Sisters speak out about abuse, worried about sex offender's return to Yukon

Two Yukon women say they're worried that a repeat offender who sexually abused them as children is being allowed to return to Whitehorse.

Twin sisters Anya Jim and Erin Jim are now 21, but were just 12 when Charlie Greenland, the partner of one of the Jims' relatives, began inappropriately touching them. The abuse continued into their teens, and took place while Greenland was on probation for sexually touching two other girls.

While Greenland has been living in B.C. for the past few years under a long-term supervision order, the sisters recently learned via a letter from a Correctional Service Canada's victim services worker that he would be returning to Whitehorse on Dec. 13.

That news, the sisters said in a joint interview with CBC News earlier this month, made them feel unsafe and concerned for the community.

"We're here to share our story and to spread awareness, because we don't want anything like this happening to anyone else," Erin said.

A Correctional Service Canada spokesperson would not confirm to CBC News on Tuesday if Greenland would be returning to Whitehorse, citing privacy law.

Greenland pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual interference for abusing the sisters and was sentenced in Yukon Territorial Court in 2020, but a publication ban on the file meant no one involved in the case could be named at that time.

Publication bans are routinely granted in criminal cases involving sexual abuse or violence, to protect victims' names. In Erin and Anya's situation, Greenland's name also fell under the ban because of his close connection to the sisters' family.

However, the sisters went to court last year to get the ban rescinded.

"We felt like it was only protecting him… That we weren't allowed to speak out," Anya said.

CBC News attempted to reach Greenland for comment Monday by leaving a message at his halfway house in B.C. and communicating with his partner over email, who said she couldn't comment but would pass the request on to him.

Greenland has not yet responded.

An undated photo of Charlie Greenland. Greenland, in 2020, was given a 3-year sentence and designated a long-term offender after pleading guilty to 2 counts of sexual inference against 2 girls in the Yukon. (Submitted/Correctional Service Canada)

According to Parole Board of Canada and Yukon territorial court documents, Greenland was handed down a three-year sentence in 2020 but with credit for the time he'd already spent in custody, only served a few more months in jail. However, the sentencing judge Karen Ruddy also designated him a long-term offender and granted the Crown's application for a long-term supervision order.

Ruddy, in designating Greenland a long-term offender, wrote that she had "little difficulty concluding that there is a substantial risk that [Greenland] will re-offend," particularly given that he'd abused two other girls and was on court sentences for those offences while abusing the sisters.

However, she also quoted a forensic psychiatrist who stated Greenland "is a good candidate for treatment and supervision in the community" though he would need a "lengthy period of supervision" given his "limited self-awareness and self-control."

The long-term supervision order, which came into effect when Greenland left jail and is active until late 2030, requires him to comply with a number of conditions, which currently include undergoing treatment for sexual offending and having no contact with the victims. He's also prohibited from being near places where children are likely to gather, such as schools, parks and swimming pools, unless accompanied by an approved adult. As well, he's banned from a number of Champagne and Aishihik First Nations communities, which the sisters are citizens of, including Haines Junction, Takhini, Klukshu and Canyon.

Still, Erin and Anya said they feel "troubled" knowing Greenland would be back in the Yukon, and hoped that sharing their story would make a difference.

"I don't want him to hurt any more girls… It ends with us," Anya said.

"We're not the broken little kids we used to be," she added.

"It's our story, and it's time that we reclaim it."