Husband of Assiniboia dayhome operator gets record sentence for child sex crimes

Content warning: This story contains descriptions of sexual abuse that may upset some readers.

Wednesday afternoon brought an end to a child sex abuse court case 20 years, 33 victims and 73 charges in the making for Richard Dyke.

“(The victims) were relieved that, at long last, it seems as if some closure is coming,” said Crown prosecutor Stephen Yusuff.

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The sentence was handed down in Moose Jaw provincial court for Richard Dyke who, between 2005 and 2023 victimized at least 33 children – the youngest, just 18 months old.

He was given 17 years in prison, the longest sentence for child sexual offences ever in Saskatchewan, according to Yusuff.

“Maybe there is a case lurking somewhere that we don’t know about, an unreported case, but my colleagues agree with me that this is the longest sentence ever imposed in Saskatchewan,” he said.

The previous highest was 15 years, according to Yusuff.

Dyke has been in custody since he was arrested in Assiniboia in 2023, and with credit for that time in custody his sentence going forward works out to 14.7 years.

Crown lawyer Stephen Yusuff says Richard Dyke’s guilty pleas helped avoid multiple trials and trauma to the victims. May 21, 2025 (Lisa Schick/980 CJME)

The 17 years was a joint submission between Yusuff and Dyke’s lawyer. Yusuff said he was happy the judge accepted it.

“We believe that it holds Mr. Dyke responsible in a serious way for his actions,” he said.

And Yusuff hoped it would deter others from similar crimes as well.

“That it sends the message that if you offend against children in Saskatchewan, you will be held responsible, you will be severely punished, and there is no room for escaping accountability,” he explained.

Dyke pleaded guilty to 10 charges of the 73 he was facing. The others were stayed in exchange for the guilty plea.

“Without the guilty pleas, we would have run, most probably, multiple trials in different southern Saskatchewan locations,” said Yusuff.

“The victims would have had to testify, their families would have had to testify. Trauma can ensue from victims testifying, it can be a very, very difficult thing for them – we are glad that they don’t have to do that in this particular case.”

Sentencing

The courtroom was about half full during the sentencing decision for Dyke. Through the hearing Dyke stared at the floor in front of him in the prisoner’s box, only looking up once or twice.

The hearing began with two victim impact statements being read out – two of the young men.

One said he kept everything bottled up because he was ashamed of what others would think of him if they knew. The statement, read out by Yusuff, said he was scared for years, wondering who he could trust, and that he was always checking to see if someone was recording him.

The other talked about being angry, embarrassed and ashamed. His statement said he feels better having gotten what happened off his chest, but that it will always be a part of him.

In reading out his decision, Judge Brian Hendrickson read some parts of other victim impact statements, including some who said this was a parent’s nightmare, that time will never heal this and that they were beating themselves up because they couldn’t protect their child.

It took the judge about 12 full minutes to read out the short summaries of the crimes committed against the 33 victims. Dyke would touch the children, force them to touch him and force them to interact with sex toys. He took pictures of the nude children and set up a secret camera in the bathroom.

Some of the victims were children who attended the home daycare run by Dyke’s then-wife, while other victims were children the family knew.

Hendrickson called the crimes selfish and heinous, telling Dyke in the prisoner’s box that the pain he caused may never heal.

“The actual harm done to the victims was considerable. The victim impact statements speak to the emotional and psychological harm done to the victims,” read Hendrickson.

Orders in addition to the 17-year sentence include a firearms prohibition, a lifetime order for the sex offender registry and an order not to contact any of the victims.

— with files from 980 CJME’s Lisa Schick