The owner of a Petrolia seniors’ home will return to court later this summer on a long list of charges including allegations of sexual assault, choking, and illegally transferring firearms.
Mike Fiddick, 62, from Sarnia is facing three counts of assault and single counts of sexual assault, attempting to render a person unconscious by choking, and mischief worth less than $5,000, according to court documents obtained by The Observer. The identity of the complainant is covered by a court-ordered publication ban.
Fiddick, the owner and administrator of Fiddick’s nursing and retirement homes on First Avenue, is also facing three weapons-related charges. Fiddick, who was arrested in May, had a brief court appearance last week.
All nine charges, which haven’t been tested in court, have been adjourned to September.
Fiddick was born in Petrolia but his family home was shared with the original Fiddick’s nursing home residents in Strathroy, according to the company’s website. Fiddick’s mother, Maxine, who died in March, started caring for people in 1968. The Petrolia facility has 128 long-term care beds and 34 retirement home beds.
The facility, which expanded in 2014, was hit by COVID-19 outbreaks during the two-plus-year pandemic.
Fiddick has a degree in funeral directing from Humber College and a diploma in long-term care management from the University of Ottawa. He is planning to wrap up his career in the next year, according to a newsletter sent to residents this month.
The home did not respond this weekend to a request for comment on if the charges have impacted his role there.