Former RCMP inspector found not guilty of sexual assault
Judge says evidence presented ‘raised reasonable doubt in my mind’
A provincial court judge has found former British Columbia RCMP inspector Tim Shields not guilty of sexual assault.
Shields, who was a high-profile spokesman for the RCMP, was accused of sexually assaulting a civilian employee in a washroom at the force’s headquarters in 2009.
The complainant, who can’t be identified because of a publication ban, told the trial that Shields led her to the unisex washroom before kissing and groping her.
The Crown had argued Shields had a “mistaken belief ” about consent when he touched the woman’s breasts, unbuttoned her pants and put her hands on his genitals.
Shields told the trial the woman enthusiastically participated in sex acts and then accused him of sexual assault.
Judge Patrick Doherty told the court Wednesday that, in the context of all the evidence, he had to consider the testimony given by Shields.
“His evidence raised a reasonable doubt in my mind against (the woman’s) subjective assertion that she did not consent to sexual touching in the bathroom.”
Defence lawyer David Butcher questioned the woman’s credibility during the trial, saying she had exchanged at least one flirtatious email with his client, and the pair’s working relationship had evolved into intimate hugs in his office when the woman repeatedly walked in unannounced and sometimes closed the door.
Crown attorney Michelle Booker said Shields provided an extraordinarily detailed, mechanical and unreasonable account of the incident in the washroom when he testified, saying the woman “actively and enthusiastically” participated in sexual acts and made no attempt to escape from the washroom.
The complainant told the court that Shields said he had something important to tell her before leading her down a flight of stairs and into the washroom, where he locked the door and sexually assaulted her, leaving her “frozen and confused.”
Shields joined the RCMP in 1996 and was promoted to inspector in 2009. He was suspended with pay in May 2015 in the middle of a code of conduct investigation. He left the force in December 2015 and was charged in May 2016.