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Randhir (Randy) Toor, co-owner and former president of Desert Hills Estate Winery in Oliver, is being accused by a Mexican farmworker of sexually assaulting her after a party at Toor’s cabin last month...

The allegations have not been tested in court and Toor, a former Oliver town councillor and RCMP auxiliary officer, did not respond to messages sent to his personal email address and social media accounts.

In a statement, lawyer Vincent Michaels said he is representing Toor.

“To be clear, Mr. Toor has not been charged with any offences arising from the investigation you refer to,” Michaels wrote. “If charges are ever approved, Mr. Toor welcomes that opportunity to better understand the substance and basis of these allegations.”

“We are presently conducting our own inquiries to try to determine the facts behind all of this,” he wrote...

Support workers in the Okanagan and academics, while not speaking about the details of this case, say sexual assaults against migrant farmworkers in British Columbia are a common and unchecked problem. Abusers are sometimes also their employers, their landlords and their only way of legally remaining in the country. Those on closed work permits are generally required to return home if they’re fired or laid off.

Anelyse Weiler is a sociology professor at the University of Victoria who has worked directly with migrant farmworkers who were survivors of sexual assault. She said the few cases that are reported likely “represent just the tip of the iceberg of sexual violence towards agricultural workers in BC.”...