The Saskatoon Police Service is deciding whether a constable should keep his job after he pleaded guilty this week to sexual assault and was granted a conditional discharge in relation to groping incidents at a Remembrance Day event in 2017.
Constable Robert Brown, 45, had requested a discharge in order to avoid a criminal record and hopefully maintain his employment as a police officer.
The SPS said Tuesday that his future there is now the subject of an administrative review. In the meantime, he remains suspended with pay.
The sexual assaults happened at a function at the legion on Nov. 11, 2017. As a gag, the court heard, the victim – a woman he’d known for years – had stuck her arms under Constable Brown’s, pantomiming “silly hand gestures” as though her arms were his. Later, Constable Brown did the same back to her, during which he groped her breasts. She laughed it off at first, but he then repeated it two more times throughout the night.
On the second occasion, he made a lewd comment about her body. The third time, Constable Brown came up behind her, grinding his lower body against her backside. He pinched her nipples hard enough to cause her pain. Constable Brown was off duty at the time, his lawyer, Brad Mitchell, said, and was under the influence of “a lot” of alcohol.
When he pleaded guilty in Saskatoon court Monday, there was no disagreement on the circumstances of the assault or the probation order that should apply, Mr. Mitchell said in an interview. But what the prosecution and defence disagreed on was whether Constable Brown – who has been a police officer for almost 20 years – should have a criminal record.
The service’s review – and Constable Brown’s fate as a police officer – will be important, said Myrna Dawson, a professor and Canada Research Chair in Public Policy in Criminal Justice at the University of Guelph. If he does stay on, she questions what impact that could have on public trust.
“The cause for concern is whether a police officer who has admitted to and been found guilty of sexual assault will, in the future, potentially be responding to other victims of sexual assault who seek help in that jurisdiction,” she wrote in an e-mail Wednesday. “Sexual assault victims are already reluctant to report to police. This will certainly not increase their confidence to do so.”
If Constable Brown had been given a suspended sentence, as prosecutor Bill Burge argued, a conviction would go on his record, but no sentence would be applied as long as the terms of his 12-month probation order were followed.
But Mr. Mitchell argued a conviction would make it “very difficult, if not impossible” for his client to retain his employment as a police officer. Constable Brown requested – and received – a conditional discharge, which means no conviction will be registered as long as he obeys the terms of his probation order.
In a brief statement to the court, Constable Brown apologized for his actions. He said he has been receiving treatment and counselling over the past year and has made efforts to reconnect with his Indigenous heritage. Two dozen letters of support were submitted on his behalf, including from fellow police officers. A Gladue report, which is done for Indigenous offenders, was also submitted.
In his ruling, Justice Leslie Matsalla stressed that police officers “have a special role to play in our society. They are persons who the public looks to for support, help and [protection]. And for that reason, an incident like this is especially disappointing.” However, he determined that in this “unique case,” a discharge would be in the best interest of Constable Brown and would not be contrary to the public interest. Constable Brown must submit a DNA sample and will be added to the sex-offender registry.
A spokesperson for Saskatoon police declined an interview Tuesday, and said only that Constable Brown’s actions are now the subject of an administrative review, pursuant to the Saskatchewan Police Act.
He has been the subject of previous administrative reviews by the service after two previous assault charges, neither of which he was convicted of. In 2005, he was acquitted of an assault charge. In 2014, an assault charge against him was stayed.
Though Mr. Mitchell acknowledged that a discharge does not guarantee his client will keep his policing job, he said it certainly gives him a better chance.
Molly Hayes