By Charles Lefebvre - CHAT News

Former Bow Island RCMP officer sentenced to two months in jail

Jan 23, 2019 | 6:07 AM

MEDICINE HAT –A former Bow Island RCMP officer convicted of sexual assault last year is heading to jail.

Elliot Teed, 34, was sentenced to two months in jail on one count of sexual assault during sentencing in Medicine Hat’s Court of Queen’s Bench Tuesday afternoon.

He was also sentenced on two counts of breach of trust, receiving two months in jail on each charge. The sentences will be served concurrently.

Teed hugged his family and other supporters, who were in tears, in the court room, before he was taken into custody.

Teed was charged in 2016 more than a year following a check stop which occurred outside of Bow Island on February 12, 2015.

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A woman, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, was stopped by Teed and an auxiliary officer during the check stop. The woman told officers she had marijuana in her vehicle after they noticed the smell of it. She was arrested and patted down twice by Teed, with the woman testifying he touched her breast inappropriately during the second patdown.

The woman received a 24-hour driving suspension and was told to park her car in a nearby parking lot. She testified Teed returned to her vehicle alone following the checkstop and propositioned her, asking her to get into his car for ride, a remark she interpreted as sexual.

A five-day, judge-only trial took place in October 2018, where Teed was found guilty by Justice Robert Hall.

Hall noted during the trial there were elements of Teed’s testimony which caused concern, noting there was no audio or video evidence from the stop in question, and the fact Teed returned to the woman’s car alone, according to GPS evidence presented at the trial.

The victim did not appear in court for the sentencing, but a victim impact statement was read into the court. in the statement, the victim say’s she has lost her trust in others since the incident, and has struggled with anxiety.

During the sentencing, the Crown was seeking six to nine months behind bars for Teed on all of the charges.

Teed’s lawyer Robb Beeman argued for a suspended sentence and probation on the sexual assault charge, and a conditional sentence on the breach of trust charges.

He cited several mitigating factors, including Teed’s lack of prior criminal record, numerous letters of reference from community members attesting to his character and a pre-sentence report which determined Teed was a low risk to re-offend. These factors were also brought up by Justice Hall as the sentence was read in court.

Beeman also cited safety concerns for Teed in jail when sharing his sentence recommendations.

Teed resigned from the RCMP in 2017.