Retired Manitoba RCMP officer sentenced to 18 months in jail following retrial in sexual interference case

WINNIPEG -

WARNING: The details in this article may be distressing to some readers. Discretion is advised.

A retired Manitoba RCMP officer who successfully appealed a 2017 conviction for sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl in September 2014 has received a longer sentence than he got following his first trial on the same matter.

Robert Dowd, 62, was led out of a Winnipeg courtroom and taken into custody Tuesday after provincial court judge Keith Eyrikson sentenced Dowd to 18 months in jail.

“This is, at the end of the day, a very morally repugnant set of circumstances,” Eyrikson told the court in handing down his decision.

Court has previously heard on Sep. 26, 2014, neighbours and friends gathered at a campground in the Interlake for a bonfire on a cold and windy night.

The host that night was Dowd, an RCMP officer who was off-duty, who testified he and a friend lit a fire and several people attended.

Among those in attendance were a 9-year-old girl, her older brother, and their father, a family Dowd told court during the retrial he had just met for the first time earlier that evening.

In a videotaped statement taken one day after the bonfire, the 9-year-old girl, who is now 16 and can’t be identified, told police she was alone with Dowd on a road near the campsite when he touched her inappropriately.

Eyrikson found Dowd guilty of both sexual assault and sexual interference in July following a retrial ordered by the Manitoba Court of Appeal. However, Dowd was only sentenced on the charge of sexual interference. Citing the Kienapple principle, which prevents an accused from being punished for two offences that are a result of the same act, Eyrikson imposed a conditional stay on the charge of sexual assault.

In a victim impact statement written by the girl and read in court by Crown attorney Sivananthan Sivarouban, she said she hasn’t trusted anyone since and struggles to go to work and face the public.

“I lost my youth because of you,” the now 16-year-old wrote in the statement read by Sivarouban. “The most unfortunate part is that I’m living the consequences of your actions.”

The girl’s stepmom told the court her stepdaughter has been battling depression and has attempted suicide twice.

Sivarouban argued the impacts on the girl have been far-reaching both emotionally and psychologically. He was seeking an 18-month sentence, the maximum allowable under the law at the time of the offence.

Dowd’s lawyer, Sarah Inness, argued for a sentence of no more than what her client received following his original trial which was 12 months.

“It was a fit sentence,” Inness told the court.

She told the court he’s a low risk to re-offend, is supported by his family and members of his community, and that his position as a police officer wasn’t a factor in the crime.

Eyrikson acknowledged Dowd is a low risk to re-offend and told the court while Dowd shouldn’t be punished for successfully appealing his original conviction he found the 12-month sentence to be inordinately low.

Dowd was credited with 32 days for time previously served meaning he has 16 months and 18 days remaining on his sentence.

He maintained his innocence and suggested to the court he plans another appeal.

“I would like to take this moment to say that I am innocent of what I have been accused of,” Dowd told the court. “At no time did I touch that girl inappropriately. I will continue my fight to prove my innocence.”

Dowd’s lawyer had no further comment following the decision.

The girl’s family said they hope her bravery and courage during the case will be seen by others as an example that they don’t have to suffer in silence.

Anyone struggling with mental health can call the CMHA at 204-982-6100. If you are in crisis, you can call the 24-hour Klinic Crisis Line at 204-786-8686 or 1-888-322-3019.

More supports for mental health in Manitoba can be found online.