Crown withdraws sex assault charge against Alberta RCMP officer

0
129

Article content

Crown prosecutors have withdrawn a sexual assault charge against an Alberta RCMP officer laid following an investigation by the province’s police watchdog.

Article content

Cpl. Kire Kondoski was arrested by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) on Jan. 22 for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman with whom he was in a relationship.

ASIRT claimed the assault occurred sometime between July 30 and Sept. 3, 2018, when Kondoski was off-duty and alone with the woman in her home in Edmonton. In a news release, the agency alleged Kondoski committed a “serious sexual assault” on the woman after she attempted to end the relationship. He was released with an order to appear in court.

Court records show the Crown discontinued prosecuting the case on Sept. 24.

“The Crown is under an obligation to constantly review cases to ensure the evidence meets its prosecution standard,” an Alberta Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman said in an email. “Upon further review, Calgary Prosecutions concluded that the evidence respecting the sexual assault charge against (Corporal) Kondoski did not meet the standard of reasonable likelihood of conviction and therefore the charge was withdrawn.”

Article content

In an email, Alberta RCMP spokesman Fraser Logan said Kondoski was suspended with pay shortly after his arrest.

The officer will remain suspended with pay until an internal conduct review is complete, he said.

“Obviously I’ve no timeline for when that internal review will be completed, nor will we be publicly giving out the details of it’s findings — unless he is facing a dismissal from the RCMP.”

The National Police Federation, the RCMP union, declined to comment on the case or connect Postmedia with Kondoski’s lawyer.

“We don’t comment publicly on any members’ individual matters,” spokesman Fabrice de Dongo said in an email.

Unlike charges that are stayed, which can be revived within one year, withdrawn charges cannot be reopened.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jonnywakefield