Manitoba's police watchdog has determined there are "reasonable grounds" to charge an RCMP officer for alleged on-duty sexual misconduct that took place in Flin Flon.
The Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) announced Thursday that it had finished an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by an RCMP officer in Flin Flon. The alleged assault took place while the officer was on duty, said the IIU.
"The civilian director of the IIU has determined there are reasonable grounds to believe a criminal offense occurred and has authorized a charge of breach of trust pursuant to section 122 of the Criminal Code," reads the announcement from IIU.
The IIU identified the officer as Cst. Nicholas Barrett, who was with the Creighton RCMP detachment at the time of the alleged offense. Barrett is described by the IIU as "formerly of the Creighton RCMP detachment". Barrett was charged Oct. 7, released on undertaking and will make a court appearance in The Pas Provincial Court Nov. 23.
The IIU had first announced they were investigating the incident in July, but did not mention specifics except that an allegation had been filed against an on-duty officer somewhere in northern Manitoba. According to a previous IIU statement, an incident took place June 27 including what the IIU described as "an allegation of sexual assault by an on-duty RCMP officer."
An RCMP detachment - the IIU did not say which - was notified of the incident July 7. RCMP notified IIU of the allegation the next day, which led to the investigation. No other details have been made public by the IIU.
"As this matter is now before the courts, the IIU will not make any further comment on its investigation," reads the IIU report.
Section 122 of the Criminal Code pertains specifically to breaches of trust by public officers, stating that any such official who "in connection with the duties of their office, commits fraud or a breach of trust, whether or not the fraud or breach of trust would be an offense if it were committed in relation to a private person, is guilty of... an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term of both more than five years; or an offense punishable on summary conviction."
The IIU investigates serious incidents and allegations against Manitoba police, including RCMP members.
