Court stays sex-assault charge against mayor
A charge of sexual assault against Port Moody Mayor Rob Vagramov has been stayed, the B.C. Prosecution Service confirmed Wednesday.
Court spokesman Dan McLaughlin said special prosecutor Michael Klein has stayed the proceedings against Vagramov after being advised by B.C. Corrections that Vagramov has successfully completed an alternative measures program. Details of the alternative measures weren’t disclosed.
According to the Crown, the program may be considered if:
The victim has been consulted
■ and the victim’s views considered.
The victim has been made aware
■ of available victim-assistance programs.
The accused has no apparent history
■ of violence or sexual offences.
An alternative measure isn’t
■ contrary to the public interest.
Vagramov went on voluntary leave of absence March 29, a day after the B.C. Prosecution Service announced he had been charged with sexual assault for an incident alleged to have taken place in Coquitlam in 2015. He returned to work briefly in September, but council voted in favour of asking him to return to a leave of absence while he faced the charge. He went back on leave in early October.
Vagramov, who has always denied the allegation, will likely return to work as mayor. Postmedia News has reached out to Vagramov but hasn’t heard back.
Vagramov was first elected to council in 2014, and was voted in as mayor during the municipal election last October. He was 26 years old when he became mayor.
Before the election, Vagramov faced criticism after a video from 2014 surfaced, in which he offered to buy lunch for a homeless man if the man shotgunned a beer with him. Vagramov later admitted that it was a “super-cringy” video.
Vagramov isn’t the first elected official in B.C. to deal with legal issues while in office.
Former Pitt Meadows councillor David Murray was charged with and later convicted of sexual assault. Shortly after his conviction in October 2017, under pressure from fellow councillors and the public, Murray resigned his seat on council.
In 2007, the mayor of Port Coquitlam stepped aside for a few weeks to deal with criminal charges. Even after he was convicted and given a conditional sentence and probation, Scott Young continued to serve as mayor. He ran, unsuccessfully, as a councillor in the next election.