York officer sentenced 16 months for sex assault
Constable has been suspended without pay and will be relieved of his duty
A York police officer has been sentenced to 16 months in jail following the sex assault of a 21-year-old woman in the back of his police cruiser.
Young Min von Seefried has now been suspended without pay and will be relieved of his duty, according to York Regional Police.
The 34-year-old pulled over a young couple in January 2015 in Markham, after testifying he noticed the colour of the vehicle they were driving in, a gold Mercedes Benz, did not match the colour on the registration.
Once at the side of the road, near Woodbine Ave. and Yorktech Dr., the court heard Const. von Seefried requested the woman accompany him to his cruiser.
Seated partially inside the vehicle the Chinese foreign exchange student said the officer began kissing and groping her genitals before placing her hand on his penis.
Const. von Seefried denied the woman’s account, but did admit to writing her phone number down in his notebook before calling her twice, 30 minutes later and leaving a voicemail.
Justice Marquis Felix rejected Const. von Seefried’s explanation that he called the girl later that morning to make sure she was “OK,” claiming his defence “smacks of after-the-fact justification.”
Const. von Seefried claimed in his testimony to have been concerned about impaired driving and the girl’s safety, worrying that she might have been involved in prostitution or domestic issues with the male driver.
Justice Felix rejected his defence in its entirety at a hearing in November 2016 calling parts of it “nonsensical”.
On top of the sentence, Const. von Seefried will also be placed on the sex offender registry for 10 years and will be on probation for two years following his jail term.
Police Chief Eric Jolliffe said the service does not tolerate this behaviour.
“We are committed to our value of accountability,” he said, “and we take any allegation against our members very seriously.”
York police Const. Andy Pattenden said the service decided to release Const. von Seefried’s image because of a concern there are other victims.
Todd Sepkowski, the president of the York Regional Police Association, said the union is currently discussing next steps with lawyers.
“I want to reassure that the actions of Young Min are not representative of the brave young men and women of York Regional Police who serve our community everyday,” he said.
“We are committed to our value of accountability . . . and we take any allegation against our members very seriously.” POLICE CHIEF ERIC JOLLIFFE