By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle

Once cheered for spreading the love by fixing up and giving away bicycles leading up to Christmas, Osoyoos resident Bryan John Miles now sits behind bars facing a sexual assault charge.

The Times Chronicle reached out to Osoyoos RCMP commander Sgt. Jason Bayda who, because of a publication ban, was only able to provide minimal information on the case.

The publication ban has been imposed under Section 486.4 of the Criminal Code which is typically applied to protect the identity of a complainant or witness in a sexual offence proceeding.

Bayda was able to confirm there is an allegation of sexual assault and that crown prosecutors have laid a formal charge.

Miles was arrested at his home in Osoyoos on an outstanding warrant for the sexual assault charge on January 25, 2023. This was the fourth time the Osoyoos RCMP arrested Miles on this file.

“He has failed to show for court numerous times and after previous arrests, was released by the courts with a new court date and failed to attend court each time,” Bayda added.

Miles has now been remanded in custody and awaits his next court date on Feb. 1, 2023 at the Penticton Courthouse.

The sexual assault allegation was made in July 2021 and police arrested Miles at that time with crown prosecutors subsequently laying the charge.

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Despite his very high public profile from late November through December when he was in the news and on social media he was actively avoiding the police.

“We’ve been going by his place multiple times, searching the area and we happened to go by the house on January 25 and saw him in the window and knew in fact he was there,” Bayda said.

Miles has a long and chequered history with the court system having first run afoul of the law in BC in 1998 for driving while his licence was suspended.

In the years that followed Miles was in and out of court and jail for offences that included impaired driving, mischief under $5,000, assault, breach of undertaking, breach of probation, breach of conditional sentence order, breach of release order and multiple cases of theft under $5,000.

These offences took place in Delta, Campbell River, Courtenay, Nelson, Kelowna and Penticton. It’s not known where this latest offence took place as this is covered by the publication ban.