Conduct board orders Whitehorse RCMP officer to resign after finding he sexually assaulted colleague

A Whitehorse RCMP officer must quit his job in the coming days — or get fired — after sexually assaulting a colleague in 2022, the force's conduct board has ruled. 

Board chair Sara Novell issued her final decision in Const. Cole Williams's case via video conference on Friday, directing Williams to resign within 14 days, failing which he will be dismissed. 

The decision comes after a hearing last year where Novell found that Williams kissed and touched a coworker without her consent after she invited him into her apartment to wait for a taxi following a night out in Whitehorse. Novell concluded on a balance of probabilities that Williams sexually assaulted the woman and thereby violated a section of the RCMP's Code of Conduct requiring members to "behave in a manner that is not likely to discredit the Force." 

"Const. Williams' actions run contrary to the higher standard expected of police officers," Novell said. "There can no longer be acceptance for this kind of misconduct." 

Williams does not face criminal charges. His lawyer, Gordon Campbell, wrote in an email that Williams "continues to maintain that this was a false allegation where the board misapprehended the evidence." 

"He intends to pursue his appeal rights to remedy this miscarriage of justice," Campbell wrote. 

A Yukon RCMP spokesperson declined comment.

Novell, in the course of delivering her decision Friday, summarized her earlier findings in the case. 

Williams and a female RCMP employee went for drinks in Whitehorse the night of April 29, 2022, visiting a restaurant and a bar and leaving the latter after it closed around 2 a.m. 

The woman's identity is under a publication ban. 

Williams accompanied the woman to purchase a snack at a gas station and the pair tried walking through the McDonald's drive-thru, Novell continued. Williams then called for a taxi several times without success, after which the woman invited him to her apartment to wait. 

The pair got to her apartment after 2:30 a.m., where they sat on the couch, watched TV and then "wrestled" with each other over a lavender spray bottle, laughing as they sprayed each other with it. 

Williams then pushed the woman down, placing his knee between her legs and kissing her neck and chest without her consent, Novell said. The woman turned her head toward the TV and "displayed no movement" until Williams stopped kissing her.

The interaction lasted under a minute. 

Woman felt 'disgusted, used, isolated'

Representatives for both the Yukon RCMP and Williams made submissions earlier this year on what measures the conduct board should impose, with Williams' lawyer asking for a 45-day financial penalty while the force requested his dismissal. 

Williams, Novell noted, provided 37 "very positive" reference letters from friends, family and coworkers, who described him as respectful, compassionate and a "diligent, reliable, well-liked and respected team player, who goes above and beyond." 

A supervisor also described Williams as an "extremely competent and promising police officer who has much to offer the RCMP," and said he had no discipline history in his less than two years with the force. 

However, Novell said the mitigating nature of Williams's character and employment references were "significantly" outweighed by aggravating factors including the seriousness of the misconduct.

While Williams' lawyer had argued the sexual assault was on the lower end of the spectrum, Novell disagreed. 

"Sexual assault, by its very definition is serious misconduct," she said. 

"There is absolutely no place, on or off-duty, in the workplace or not, for any touching… or any other physical contact of a sexual nature where one party does not consent."

Hearing that an officer sexually assaulted someone, Novell said, could "severely damage" the public's trust in the RCMP and discourage victims of sexual assault from coming forward. General deterrence, she said, was of "particular importance" so that other RCMP members would give "serious consideration" to their actions on and off-duty.

Novell said the impact on the complainant was also aggravating, with the woman saying the incident left her feeling "disgusted, used, isolated." As well, the woman reported that it negatively affected her perception of men, particularly members of the RCMP, as well as her relationship with her husband and her mental health. 

Given the circumstances, Novell said it was "inappropriate" to impose "educative and remedial" measures for Williams. 

RCMP members can appeal conduct board decisions to the force's commissioner.