RCMP chief ordered to take new look at sex case

A judge has ordered the RCMP commissioner to reconsider his handling of the case of a B.C. officer accused of sexual misconduct after finding the top Mountie relied too much on speculation. The decision highlights the challenges Bob Paulson faces in fulfilling his promise to deal more swiftly with disciplinary matters. The case in question has stretched on for more than seven years.

In February 2005, while off-duty, Const. James Douglas MacLeod and a friend attended a Super Bowl house party in Maple Ridge, B.C. There was a lot of drinking. The two men had sex with a woman that evening. She alleged later that she did not consent to the sex and that she believed she had been drugged.

MacLeod was charged in December 2005 with sexual assault, but the charges were stayed. MacLeod still faced internal RCMP disciplinary proceedings, however. An adjudication board concluded in 2008 that the woman was a credible witness and that the assault had likely occurred as she had described, even though no drugs were found in her system. The board cited the fact that MacLeod’s friend had brought the woman a drink and asked her whether “that Spanish fly” had “kicked in yet.” The board also found that the man who threw the party that night and who passed out at one point also likely had been drugged, and that MacLeod and his friend knew this so they could carry out their sexual activity.

The board ordered MacLeod to resign within 14 days or be dismissed.

MacLeod appealed the decision to the RCMP commissioner. The commissioner referred the matter first to an external civilian review panel, as he was required to do.

That external panel found that the adjudication board had erred. It recommended the commissioner allow the appeal. But in July 2012, Paulson chose to support the original adjudication board decision and denied MacLeod’s appeal.

Federal Court Judge Daniele Tremblay-Lamer ruled this week that Paulson had erred in upholding the adjudication board’s finding that the woman and the party thrower had been drugged, as there was “no clear and cogent evidence” to support the allegation.

The judge cited evidence of an expert who testified the woman’s claims of memory loss were unlikely to be the result of being drugged.

An RCMP spokeswoman said Friday it would be inappropriate to comment given that the case is still in the appeal stage.