COURT
Officer charged with sex assault makes court appearance
A new court date has been set for an Red Deer RCMP officer charged with sexual assault.
An agent appeared on behalf of Const. Jason Tress in Red Deer provincial court on Wednesday morning. Judge Jim Mitchell set the next court date for Aug. 16.
Tress is facing two counts of sexual assault and two counts of breach of trust arising out of incidents involving three women in 2012 and 2016.
The charges were laid March 29 after the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was directed last July by the Director of Law Enforcement to investigate an allegation that an RCMP officer sexually assaulted a woman in 2016 at the Red Deer detachment.
It is alleged two of the three incidents occurred while the officer was on duty.
That allegation led to further investigation and other charges.
Two of the alleged incidents occurred while the officer was posted in Red Deer. He was at a rural detachment when the alleged 2012 incident occurred.
Tress, an eight-year officer, was suspended with pay in August 2016 as a result of the initial allegations.
A Crown prosecutor out of Calgary, Photini Papadatou, has been appointed to handle the case.