Sex offender evicted again

As community outrage mounted over the return of a man convicted in Michigan of a sex offense against a child, a trio of Council chiefs, including grand chief Cody Diabo, delivered an eviction notice Tuesday, leading the man to vacate Kahnawake for a second time.

The man, Darin Albany, pleaded no contest to criminal sexual conduct involving a person under 13 years old, for which he was sentenced to probation in 2006. However, he soon absconded, leading to a warrant being issued in Michigan for failure to appear.

Albany ended up back in Kahnawake, where he was forced out by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) in 2023 after an uproar ensued amid a landlord’s months-long quest to have Albany removed from her home after her discovery of his crime.

However, at some point, he returned to Kahnawake, moving in with his longtime partner.

“Honestly, it’s scary thinking about that because there are a lot of children who are in our community who shouldn’t have to be afraid of going to parks or shouldn’t be afraid that there is some child predator in Kahnawake. It’s disgusting,” said community member Kianna Meloche.

“He should be thrown in jail for coming back to Kahnawake,” she said. “And the Council should ban him for coming back and not respecting his conditions to not come back.”

Meloche’s sentiment is widely shared, although several community members who expressed anger over his return - and relief at his removal - declined to be quoted in this article, citing a desire to stay out of it.

Albany’s plea of Nolo Contendere, or “no contest,” to the charge doesn’t exist in Canada. It’s a form of conviction that means a defendant accepts punishment for a crime but does not admit their guilt.

Albany was sentenced to five years probation, but he absconded, leading to a warrant for his arrest being issued in 2007 following his failure to appear, which is still active. According to Michigan’s Department of Corrections, attempts to extradite Albany to the US have been considered, but these efforts have been complicated by his First Nations status.

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office was not able to provide more information or clarity by deadline.

However, according to MCK chief Jeremiah Johnson, who served the latest eviction notice alongside Diabo and MCK chief Melanie Morrison, Albany is not on the Kahnawà:ke Kanien’kehá:ka Registry (KKR) and has no right to live in the community.

Johnson dismissed the proposition that due process had not been followed by the MCK issuing this notice as it did, saying this is just another layer and that a complaint was lodged under the Kahnawake Residency Law.

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” said Johnson. “If we have to use any means necessary to keep the community safe and keep the peace in our community, we have to do what we have to do.”

This was exactly what the action, no different than the first time, achieved, he argued. He characterized the latest notice as a reminder of the previous one, which was described at the time as a letter of non-entitlement to reside within the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake.

“Community members were getting ready to mobilize and take action on their own,” Johnson added, noting that Albany had been photographed in Kahnawake and that this was being shared on social media.

“This is why I stepped in and said give us a chance to deal with this because I would prefer if we could find a way to mitigate the situation before we have a situation where community members are out in front of a house protesting, potentially putting themselves or others in danger,” he said.

The Council chiefs, who were accompanied by a bailiff and the Kahnawake Peacekeepers, were not greeted at the door of the home, but the eviction notice left behind for Albany was received by the couple.

“It is very common for us to escort bailiffs,” said Peacekeepers spokesperson Kyle Zachary, who would not comment on the nature of the notice as it was not a Peacekeepers’ document.

Some wondered why the Peacekeepers abided the man’s presence until this week following his previous eviction, a question Zachary addressed in his comments.

“The Peacekeepers looked into this situation when it was first brought to our attention years ago. Legally, there isn’t anything that could be done from a policing standpoint. It is a file from Michigan and was heard in a Michigan court,” he said.

“August 24, 2023, there was an article in the The Eastern Door that has already covered this. Nothing has changed from our perspective.”

Albany’s longtime partner, Barbie Montour, confirmed that Albany has left Kahnawake, but she expressed outrage at how they have been treated.

“I want to know, isn’t there a process to this? How do you just drop off a thing? Isn’t there a process you have to do for eviction? Because what I read on their site is you have to have this, you’ve got to have that, this has to be done - that wasn’t done,” she said.

“They’re jumping the gun. They don’t know anything about nothing. No due process at all. Here we go again, Cody, Mr. No Due Process. Isn’t everybody entitled, or no, or is it that the squeaky wheel gets the grease?”

Diabo told The Eastern Door that the previous letter was modified to reflect changes to the community’s residency regime but that it was in essence the same action. Similar to Johnson, he portrayed the measure taken by the MCK as in addition to any other more formalized process.

“This one was more of a unique circumstance whereas to why we got a little more hands-on from the Council itself,” Diabo said.

Montour said she is in the process of talking to lawyers about the situation.

“I haven’t slept, I haven’t eaten, I haven’t done nothing now since this shit started. Do I go and sue them now?” she said.

Montour also objected to the idea that not being on the KKR means a person has no right to reside on the territory, saying Albany is a Kahnawake Mohawk who was receiving social assistance, a claim that has not been verified by The Eastern Door.

“It’s like constant bullying. Nobody knows the story but they’re just listening to what the big bird has to say. Council included,” said Montour, who said that Albany was a caretaker for her and her quadriplegic brother.

“It’s like double jeopardy. He’s getting tried and juried all over again. It’s already done. He got probation,” she said. She acknowledged he absconded from this sentence. “But you know what, that’s 20 goddamn years ago too. I don’t know why they’re talking like it was yesterday,” she said.

Albany has an active violation of probation warrant stemming from his case, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office confirmed. Nevertheless, Montour believes the community should let it go.

“I wish they would mind their business,” she said. “This town is so f*cking traumatized by the goddamn stuff that’s been done to a lot of us, me included, that it’s just traumatizing. Any little thing about anything. People just blow it out of proportion,” she said.

Johnson said Albany had been “interacting poorly with neighbours” and that the neighbourhood was getting upset, and that he had no doubt it was better for the MCK to take action before community members took the matter into their own hands.

“I’ve gotten a lot of feedback since yesterday that the community is very happy this was done,” Johnson said. “They feel safer in their community and safer letting their kids out. That’s really what our job is, what our duty is as representatives and Council members, is to make sure the people living in our community feel safe. It’s about maintaining the peace. I feel we accomplished that Tuesday in a small way.”

Albany did not reply to a request for comment.

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter