RCMP OFFICER TRIED TO INITIATE "SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP" WITH A 16 YEAR OLD GIRL: MISCONDUCT DECISION.

By Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: An Alberta RCMP officer tried to facilitate a sexual relationship through inappropriate text messages with a 16-year-old girl, according to a decision posted following a conduct hearing.

Martin and the girl — whose identity is protected by a publication ban — coached lacrosse together in 2019. 

 In July, RCMP confirmed Const. Daniel Martin, who was working for the emergency response team in southern Alberta at the time, was ordered to resign following a hearing presided over by Josée Thibault.

  "I find that he knowingly engaged in text messaging with for the purposes of his own sexual gratification and to facilitate or advance some kind of sexual relationship with her," wrote Thibault.

"I fail to understand why a 40-year-old man, a father, a husband, a trained RCMP member with extensive coaching expertise with youth needs to engage in progressively more sexualized conversations with a 16-year-old."

Thibault found Martin "befriended her, cultivated her trust, established an emotional connection where she felt comfortable in confiding in him and steered the conversion towards sexual topics."

One day after the victim's mother filed a complaint with the RCMP, Martin was suspended by Alberta Lacrosse Association.