Historic sex charges stayed against RCMP officer and co-accused woman

The age of consent — as it was three decades ago — has contributed to bringing an end to historical sex charges against a former Carlyle RCMP officer and a co-accused.

Charges against RCMP officer Ronald Patrick Makar and Constance Haduik have been stayed. Makar was charged last year with one count each of having sexual intercourse with a female without her consent and of having sexual intercourse with a female under the age of 14. Haduik faced one count of indecent assault of a female.

“There was not a reasonable likelihood of conviction,” Crown prosecutor Bill Burge said Tuesday of the stay of proceedings entered Nov. 2 in Estevan Court of Queen’s Bench.

Makar’s lawyer was unavailable for comment. An RCMP spokesman was unsure Tuesday of Makar’s current status within the force.

Mark Brayford, who represented Haduik, said his client has always maintained she’s not guilty. He noted being accused of any criminal allegation carries a stigma, and a sex offence even more so.

“There are real repercussions to any person that gets accused of a criminal offence that ultimately is not made out,” said Brayford. “That’s one of the reasons that it’s so important that we, as citizens, keep an open mind and bear in mind the presumption of innocence.”

A stay effectively brings charges to an end, although it is possible to renew them within a year if, for example, new evidence arises. Burge said that’s unlikely in this case.

Preliminary hearings — in which the Crown calls evidence to determine if it’s sufficient to commit a case to trial — were held separately for each accused. Burge said upon a review of the transcripts from those two hearings, the Crown determined it couldn’t proceed. He said the complainant’s age at the time of the alleged offences “was a very significant factor.”

The charges were laid under the Criminal Code as it existed in 1982, when the offences were alleged to have occurred in the Carlyle area. In announcing the charges last year, RCMP said it was believed the complainant was 12 at the time. The legal age of consent to sexual activity was then 14. (The law changed in 2008, upping the legal age of consent 16.)

“We are not in a position to prove that this happened before she was 14,” said Burge.

Asked if the charges had been laid in error from the outset, Burge said it was an issue that arose only after evidence was heard during the preliminary hearing and subsequently investigated.

Brayford declined to comment on the consent issue, saying the Crown tested its case at the preliminary hearing and determined a conviction was unlikely. “It was certainly our view that they made the right decision in choosing not to proceed,” he added.

In April 2014, Regina RCMP issued a news release and held a news conference announcing charges against Makar, then a 54-year-old RCMP inspector, and Haduik, a 56-year-old Kyle area woman. Makar was arrested in Fort McMurray, Alta., where he was the operations officer in charge of the Wood Buffalo RCMP detachment. At that time, he was suspended with pay pending the outcome of an RCMP discipline process.

The charges arose after the complainant gave a statement to investigators in December 2013, alleging offences from the summer of 1982.

There was not a reasonable likelihood of conviction. BILL BUR GE, Crown prosecutor