Cst. Valerie Little's transfer to the Nanaimo detachment never materialized after she was brought under review for conduct against an officer currently stationed in Nanaimo. (file photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

sexual assault

Campbell River Mountie punished for historical sex assault against Nanaimo RCMP officer

Jul 10, 2020 | 5:59 AM

NANAIMO — A Campbell River Mountie faced stiff punishment for sexually assaulting a fellow male officer who’s now based in Nanaimo.

A decision from the RCMP’s conduct board released in late January docked Cst. Valerie Little of 20 days pay and 10 vacation days. The decision declined to fire Cst. Little due to her “potential to reform or rehabilitate.”

She was accused of two incidents of sexual assault and making inappropriate sexual comments more than a decade ago when she and her victim, known as Cst. A.F., both worked at the Vernon detachment.

The decision said Cst. Little first placed her hand on the thigh of her victim in late 2009 while watching video of an accused sex offender. She then whispered into Cst. A.F.’s ear she “liked to take it from behind,” mirroring comments made by the accused sex offender in the video.

“Following the incident, he avoided interaction with Cst. Little and he did not report the incident to his supervisors,” the decision said. “He thought she understood he was not interested, that it was a ‘one-off’ and that she would not try anything again.”

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Only a few months later a second incident occurred in the hallway of the Vernon detachment.

Cst. A.F. testified he was grabbed in the crotch by Cst. Little after a discussion about an upcoming community broomball game and officers being required to wear a protective cup.

Cst. Little grabbed and squeezed Cst. A.F.’s genitals and said “I see you’re not wearing a cup.”

This embarrassed Cst. A.F., who walked away in shock.

“As a male RCMP member and you being a female, Cst. A.F. determined there was nothing he could do about your unwanted sexual advance,” the decision said.

Cst. A.F. left the detachment shortly after, transferring to the Nanaimo detachment in 2011.

The decision from the RCMP conduct board said Cst. Little and Cst. A.F. did not work or socialize together and barely interacted. However, Cst. Little did testify she felt respect and reverence towards her victim due to his involvement in an on-duty shooting in 2007.

More than seven years went by before the two Constables saw each other again.

In the spring of 2017, Cst. Little visited the Nanaimo detachment to discuss a transfer into the School Liason Program from her current Campbell River detachment. She ran into Cst. A.F. in the lobby and claimed he gave her a tour, though Cst. A.F. denied taking her around the building.

Cst. A.F. told investigators “he was hoping to never see Cst. Little again and he did the minimum he could to remain professional.”

They met unexpectedly again on Aug. 2, 2018 at the office of the psychologist in Nanaimo they shared.

At this time, Cst. Little told Cst. A.F. during an approximately one minute conversation she was applying for a transfer to the Nanaimo detachment.

Cst. A.F. then testified to spending his entire psychologist session discussing Cst. Little.

“He was completely overwhelmed and never thought he would see her again,” the decision said. “He felt stuck and knew he could not work with her as he was afraid something else may happen.”

Cst. A.F. made his formal complaints to officials at his detachment immediately after his visit with the psychologist. The complaints triggered an investigation which was heard in 2019 and placed Cst. Little’s transfer on hold.

The RCMP conduct board sided with Cst. A.F.’s testimony, saying his “evidence was more logical and plausible than that of Cst. Little.”

It found her testimony to be credible but she “embellished and editorialized her testimony” and did not have “a clear ring of truth.”

Though the decision did not include an order preventing Cst. Little from working at the Nanaimo detachment, it noted it would be inappropriate for the two to work in the same detachment.

Her transfer to the Nanaimo detachment never materialized after the investigation.

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