Court documents reveal new details of sex assault allegations against disgraced Vancouver detective
James Fisher denies claims from 2 women who say they felt pressured into sex acts
This is Part 1 of a two-part series on new revelations concerning the investigation into former Vancouver detective James Fisher. Part 2 can be found here.
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.
When former star detective James Fisher was sent to jail in 2018, all the public learned about his crimes was that he'd admitted to kissing two young sex trafficking victims.
After Fisher's guilty plea on two counts of breach of trust and one of sexual exploitation, several other charges, including sexual assault involving another two complainants, were stayed. The allegations behind those charges were never tested in court.
Now, after a four-year legal battle, CBC has obtained about 2,600 pages of documents detailing the investigation into Fisher's misconduct as an officer with the Vancouver Police Department.
Fisher has heavily redacted the documents to obscure many details of the untested sexual assault allegations, but it's still possible to discern a rough sketch of the evidence behind the stayed charges.
That includes allegations he coerced sexual favours from young women who'd already been victimized by a violent pimp, sometimes in exchange for money or other assistance — all claims that Fisher denies.
The identities of all four women Fisher was charged with sexually assaulting or sexually exploiting are protected by a publication ban, so they are referred to as COM 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the documents.
One young woman, known as COM 3, told investigators that Fisher pressured her into oral sex while they were parked in his car at Grouse Mountain. She alleged he promised to help smooth the way when she took the stand in the trial of Reza Moazami, the human trafficker who'd exploited her, according to a report to Crown counsel included in the documents.
"Fisher, who was a trusted person of authority, communicated with COM 3 that if she gave him oral sex he could make things easier for her at court when it came time to testify at Moazami's trial," investigators with the VPD's professional standards section wrote in a 2017 report to Crown.
Another victim in Moazami's underage prostitution ring, known as COM 4, described how Fisher booked a room one night at the Atrium Inn in East Vancouver after she asked him for cash.
"I needed help for my rent one time and I asked him for some money 'cause I was short and he's like, yeah sure and then he's like, I want to … rent a hotel and stuff and we can hang out and I'll help you out," she told police during a 2017 interview.
The details of what allegedly happened in that hotel room have been redacted by Fisher, but COM 4 said he left the hotel room at 4 or 5 a.m. the next day.
Lawyer Jason Gratl, who represents another two women who allege they were sexually assaulted by Fisher, said they plan to challenge the redactions in court.
"My clients will not stand for Mr. Fisher trying to cover up sexual misconduct he committed while working as a VPD officer," Gratl told CBC in an email.
Fisher told CBC in an email that all allegations of coercing sexual favours from COM 3 and COM 4 in exchange for money or help in court are untrue.
He also denied trying to cover up sexual misconduct by redacting the documents.
"I pleaded guilty to and was sentenced for my sexual misconduct in open court," he said.
Fisher retired from the VPD in 2017. He was sentenced to 20 months in jail, and charges of sexual assault against COM 3 and COM 4 were stayed.
'There were others?'
The newly released documents were all submitted in support of an appeal filed by Moazami, one of the men Fisher helped put behind bars during his time with the VPD's Counter Exploitation Unit. A panel of appeal court justices ultimately rejected Moazami's argument that Fisher's misconduct with witnesses and victims in his trial amounted to a miscarriage of justice.
CBC secured a court order in December allowing the release of the documents, with redactions made by Crown prosecutors and Fisher, following an earlier, unsuccessful constitutional challenge to the B.C. Court of Appeal's media access policy.
The documents include transcripts of witness interviews and covert recordings of phone calls and meetings, printouts of Fisher's text messages and Facebook conversations, and four different reports submitted to Crown counsel recommending charges against him.
Along with transcripts of lengthy interviews with COM 3 and COM 4 about their experiences with Fisher, there is corroborating evidence including statements from other witnesses, phone records and receipts.
A report to Crown counsel says that investigators first approached COM 3 in January 2017 to speak about Fisher, telling her he had already been charged with sexual offences against two women.
Her response was, "There were others?"
COM 3 told officers during a 2017 interview that the second time she met Fisher, ostensibly to talk about the Moazami investigation, he took her to an Earls restaurant, where he ordered wine.
"I literally felt like I was on a date," she said.
She described two non-consensual sexual encounters with Fisher, including the incident at Grouse Mountain. The details of the second have been redacted from the documents, and Fisher has denied that either encounter happened.
"I didn't expect him to get in trouble for it. I thought he would just get away with it, you know?" she said during the interview.
COM 3 told investigators she had been reluctant to report Fisher's behaviour because she didn't want to endanger the case against Moazami.
'She felt really awkward and upset, embarrassed'
The details of Fisher's alleged actions involving COM 4 are mostly obscured by extensive redactions. But a report to Crown counsel says she outlined "five sexually inappropriate incidents" in her interviews, including whatever happened during the encounter at the Atrium Inn.
"COM 4 told the investigators that after these incidents with Fisher she felt really awkward and upset, embarrassed and wanted to get away," the report reads.
It goes on to say that Fisher's text messages showed that COM 4 had requested a total of more than $4,000 from him over the years.
"COM 4 noted that Fisher was helping her out financially but it got to the point where she did not think it was okay. COM 4 did not consent to incidents and noted they made her feel 'really uncomfortable,'" the report to Crown counsel says.
Fisher told CBC that he had no "sexually inappropriate incidents" with COM 4 and did not give her money in exchange for sex.
Fisher is currently awaiting trial in Port Coquitlam on a charge of breaching an order to comply with the conditions imposed on him as a registered sex offender. Few details have been made public, but according to the B.C. Prosecution Service, he allegedly failed to report a secondary address as required.
He declined to comment on the ongoing criminal case.
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