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HALIFAX — A 75-year-old former swim instructor is facing dozens of charges related to alleged sex crimes against 30 youths at a Nova Scotia corrections facility between 1989 and 2015, RCMP say.
Staff Sgt. Rob McCamon was visibly shaken Wednesday when he announced Donald Douglas Williams of Dartmouth, N.S., had been arrested at his home on Saturday.
“This instructor held a position of authority, and the young people he victimized should have been able to trust him and feel safe with him,” McCamon said as he drew a deep breath and paused to regain his composure. “Sexual assault investigations are often complex … and even more so when the time frame spans decades.”
The accusers are 29 boys and one girl, all of them between the ages of 12 and 18 when they were being held at the centre.
“Any time you’re dealing with something of this magnitude, there’s always a lot of emotion attached to that,” McCamon said. “Whenever you speak to survivors or even witnesses of crime, you have to deal with those emotions. It becomes very heavy …. These are tough investigations to work through.”
McCamon, acting officer in charge of the Nova Scotia RCMP’s major crime section, said all of the alleged crimes took place within the walls of the Nova Scotia Youth Centre in Waterville, N.S., where Williams worked as a swim instructor between 1988 and 2017.
In all, the accused faces 66 charges, all of them related to his work at the centre. The charges include three counts of sexual assault causing bodily harm, 28 charges of sexual assault, 32 charges of sexual exploitation, and charges of sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and assault. McCamon said more charges against Williams are expected.
Asked if police were looking for other potential perpetrators, McCamon said, “Right now, Doug Williams is our focus.” As well, McCamon encouraged anyone with allegations or information about what happened at the centre to come forward.
The RCMP investigation — known as Operation Headwind — started in 2018.
In July 2023, the Mounties confirmed they were investigating at least 70 cases of alleged sexual assault at the centre, about 100 kilometres northwest of Halifax. At that time, they established a confidential tip line in a bid to get survivors and witnesses to come forward.
“I feel we were able to allow survivors to feel safe to contact us,” McCamon said Wednesday during a news conference at RCMP headquarters in Dartmouth, N.S. “I expect and hope that if there are other survivors out there that they do come forward.”
As for why it took police seven years to make an arrest, McCamon said the case was very sensitive and complex.
Investigators were dispatched across Canada to interview 450 survivors and witnesses, and they reviewed more than 9,800 documents, he said, adding that some of those who made allegations chose not to proceed with their cases.
“When you’re dealing with historical sexual assaults, there’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” the officer said. “In an institutional setting like this, there was a lot of written documentation … It takes a lot of time to review that information … not to mention the amount of people who needed to be spoken to.”
Among those who were interviewed, some were serving time in some form of institution, the Mountie said, adding that winning the trust of some survivors was challenging.
“There was difficulty with that at certain points,” he said. “But once the understanding was there that we were there to listen to what they had to say … it opened those doorways for us. We put a lot of effort into lowering the barriers.”
The Mounties said Williams has been released from custody and is scheduled to appear in provincial court in Kentville, N.S., on Sept. 26.
The youth centre opened in 1988. It houses male and female youths serving open or secure custody sentences, as well as young people awaiting a court appearance. The centre includes five cottages, each of which has two, 12-bed units.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2025.
— With files from Keith Doucette.
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press
