A former executive director has been charged with defrauding Violence Prevention Avalon East of more than $135,000, a move that impacts a non-profit organization serving residents in Mount Pearl and the wider Eastern Avalon region.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary launched an investigation in December 2023 after the organization’s board discovered financial irregularities and reported them to police. Following a probe by the Economic Crime Unit, 50-year-old Valerie Barter of Conception Bay South was charged on April 2, 2026, with seven offenses, including fraud over $5,000, forgery, uttering a forged document, using a forged document, false pretenses, mischief relating to computer data, and breach of trust.
Police allege the crimes occurred between April 2021 and December 2023, during the time Barter served as executive director. The board of the non-profit organization, which has been established since 1988, took immediate action to remove Barter upon finding the discrepancies and has been cooperating with law enforcement and auditors.
Violence Prevention Avalon East relies on $80,000 in annual provincial government funding, a budget that has not seen an increase since 2012. The organization manages several community services, including the Pet Safe Keeping Program, which provides emergency shelter for the pets of domestic violence victims in collaboration with partners including the City of Mount Pearl and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
Barter was first arrested on related charges in December 2024 before the more serious charges were laid this month. She is currently employed as a project manager at the Bell Island Support Network. Her lawyer, Robert Hoskins, stated that she is presumed innocent and has declined further comment. Barter is scheduled to appear in court in May 2026.
