Charges stayed against three police officers

Calgary police say criminal charges against three officers have been stayed.

In August 2017, Sgt. Mark Schwartz and Det. Paul Rubner were charged with kidnapping and assault, and Det. Reagan Hossack was charged with kidnapping, in connection with an incident that was alleged to have taken place in January 2010.

“Although the charges were recommended at the time by the Crown, they have further reviewed the file and all related criminal charges have now been stayed,” Calgary police said in a news release Thursday evening.

At the time the charges were announced, police said they stemmed from a youth exploitation investigation in 2010, when the three officers were tasked with finding a young girl they planned to apprehend under the Protection of Sexually Exploited Children Act.

During the course of their investigation, police said last year, the three officers — who were accompanied by a fourth member — took a man, believed to have information on the whereabouts of people involved in the youth’s exploitation, into their unmarked police van.

In June 2015, the Calgary police professional standards unit launched an investigation based on a report by the fourth officer in the vehicle, who has since resigned from the police service. The report alleged that during the investigation, an assault took place as the officers drove the man around for about 20 minutes. The case was later handed over to the Edmonton Crown Prosecutor’s Office.

In September 2017, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team was called in to review the entire investigation by Calgary police between 2010 and 2017.