A former chief of a northwestern Ontario First Nation remains in custody in Thunder Bay after being arrested for assault and breaching his bail conditions.
Multiple sources confirm Eli Mandamin, formerly of Iskatewizaagegan (Shoal Lake 39), was charged February 6.
Mandamin, 60, appeared in court via videolink Friday and was remanded in custody at the district jail until February 20.
He is charged with one count of assault, one count of failing to comply with an undertaking, and two counts of breach of recognizance.
A publication ban was imposed on details of the most recent allegations.
Mandamin had been free on bail awaiting sentencing on a historical sex crime from the 1980s. He pleaded guilty last winter to having sex with a minor between 14 and 16 years of age, after which a rape charge was withdrawn.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on that plea in Kenora, Ont., on February 26.
Victim Pauline Fair waived a publication ban on her name.
“The case… is a really huge victory for me,” she told APTN News in an earlier interview.
“It would take a dozen women to bring down a guy like that. And I brought him down by myself.”
Fair was 14 when she said Mandamin – then a special constable with the Ontario Provincial Police – took her to the building that served as the community detachment.
She says something caused her to black out and she awoke with him on top of her, assaulting her.
Fair became pregnant and gave birth to a son, which she said, kept her from reporting the crime for decades.
“I was protecting him,” she said, noting her son died a few years ago.
“That’s why I didn’t come forward before.”
Mandamin’s lawyer in that case, Robin Parker, didn’t respond when asked for a comment for this story.
