Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 6:57 am
This is nothing but pure bullshit...I guess the Red Serge is a Red Sheild when it comes to thier own.
Mountie escapes sex prosecution after RCMP delay
Updated Thu. Oct. 5 2006 8:15 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
An RCMP officer accused of having sex with underage prostitutes has escaped disciplinary action after a panel ruled the force had waited too long to launch a hearing.
In his ruling in Vancouver Wednesday, an RCMP adjudicator said he didn't have jurisdiction to hear the complaint because the disciplinary hearing should have been launched within a year of the force learning about the allegations against Const. Justin Harris.
RCMP investigators accused Harris of behaving in a "disgraceful manner" by buying sex with three underage prostitutes between 1993 and 2001.
His alleged conduct came to light after investigators began interviewing young prostitutes involved in a case against a Prince George, B.C., judge in 2002.
The judge, David Ramsay, eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2004 to seven years in jail for having sex with underage sex-trade workers.
Harris's case, which has captured much media attention in B.C., is a blow to the RCMP which is already under fire for its conduct in the Maher Arar affair.
Waited too long
Under the RCMP Act, a commanding officer has to launch a disciplinary hearing within a year of being notified of an allegation against an officer.
In Harris's case, that limitation period ended on Jan. 24, 2003.
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Gary Bass argued earlier this week that many sex workers were reluctant to testify against Harris in 2002 and the case at that point wasn't strong enough to initiate disciplinary action.
After the tribunal's ruling Wednesday, Harris wept as he hugged his wife.
His father, Scott, a retired RCMP officer, said his son still wants the chance to clear his name.
"It's extremely frustrating. He's been very co-operative with investigators all along," he told reporters.
Nine police officers were at one time identified as possible suspects in the police internal investigation, but most of the allegations proved to be unfounded and only Ramsay and Harris have ever faced criminal or disciplinary charges.
Harris's lawyer, Reginald Harris, said his client is relieved but saddened there wasn't a full hearing on merits of the case.
"He's maintained from the moment he was confronted with these that he's absolutely innocent. He has voluntarily given all his bank records to the RCMP, he's voluntarily exposed his body parts for photographing by the RCMP, he has voluntarily submitted all his medical records to the RCMP."
Harris said his client went forward with the technical argument regarding the time limit instead of arguing the case because he wanted to set a precedent for other officers.
"This decision will reinforce that and ensure other members that go forth will get fair hearings and that time limitations will be respected," he told reporters Wednesday.
Appeal
The RCMP has 14 days to appeal the board's findings and the Mounties' lawyer Brian Radford said he'll look at the decision to determine if there are avenues of appeal.
"For the time being we accept the board's findings," Radford said. "We knew going into this that we would be facing some difficult issues, in fact we wanted those issues to be debated."
The RCMP in Prince George began investigating in 1999 after rumours began to surface that high-ranking community members routinely used and abused sex-trade workers.
The investigation also targeted a number of lawyers and several officers in the detachment.
Ramsay admitted he paid for sex from girls as young as 12 to 16 years old and many of them appeared before him in his court.
In one case, he slammed a girl's head into the dashboard of his car and forced her to hitchhike in the nude from a rural area back into town.
Harris has been off his job with pay and his future depends on the assessment by RCMP on the potential to appeal the board's decision
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![[cheer]](./images/smilies/icon_cheers.gif "Cheer"){kind=icon}
