Two police officers in New Brunswick are set to face criminal charges in court next week. The charges stem from separate investigations conducted by the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) into allegations of sexual assault and domestic assault.
A sergeant from the Saint John Police Force, who has served for 37 years, has been charged with sexual assault and breach of public trust. The officer is scheduled to appear in Saint John provincial court on Nov. 13.
Additionally, a constable from the New Brunswick RCMP is facing two counts of assault and one count of uttering threats. The constable is set to appear in Saint John provincial court on Nov. 13 and Moncton provincial court on Nov. 17.
Erin Nauss, the director of SIRT, stated that based on their independent investigations, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the two officers committed criminal offenses. SIRT investigates incidents involving death, serious injury, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and other matters related to police actions in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The investigation into the Saint John police officer began on Feb. 20 after the professional standards unit received a public complaint. The matter was subsequently referred to SIRT on Feb. 24 due to the nature of the allegations. The officer was charged with sexual assault and breach of public trust and has been suspended pending criminal proceedings.
In a separate case, the RCMP’s J Division in Fredericton contacted SIRT on July 15 regarding allegations of domestic assault involving a Mountie. Following an investigation completed on Sept. 9, the constable was charged with assault and uttering threats in Moncton on Nov. 3 and with a second count of assault in Saint John on Nov. 4.
SIRT has declined to provide further comments on the investigations as the matters are now before the courts, respecting the fair trial interests of the accused.