Trial date pending in BTPS sex assault case
By Shurtz, Delon on February 6, 2020.
Delon Shurtz
Lethbridge Herald
A Blood Tribe Police officer charged with sexual assault, could set a trial date when he returns to court next month.
An agent for Const. Bradley Chief Body’s lawyer appeared briefly in Lethbridge provincial court Wednesday, and pleaded not guilty on behalf of the accused to two counts of sexual assault.
Lethbridge lawyer Scott Hadford told court the trial is expected to last only two days, and a date for the trial will likely be set during Chief Body’s next court hearing March 4.
The Crown also re-elected to proceed by summary conviction rather than by indictment. An accused found guilty on an indictable offence is liable to imprisonment for up to 10 years, while a summary conviction is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 18 months.
Chief Body, who has been suspended from duty with pay pending review, was charged July 16 of last year following an investigation by ASIRT, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.
Investigators reported that on two separate occasions in early February 2017, an on-duty officer sexually assaulted a woman by improperly touching her, over clothing, without her consent. The complainant reported the alleged assaults following the second incident.
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