Verdict set for Dec. 20 in case of B.C. ex-Mountie charged with sexual assault

VANCOUVER – A British Columbia judge is expected to release his verdict on Dec. 20 in the case of a retired RCMP inspector charged with sexually assaulting a civilian employee in the workplace.

Fifty-two-year-old Tim Shields, who was a high-profile spokesman for the RCMP in B.C., has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault.

The provincial court trial heard the assault was alleged to have occurred in 2009 in a ground-floor washroom of the force’s British Columbia headquarters.

The complainant, who cannot be identified because of a publication ban, testified that Shields led her to a unisex washroom before kissing and groping her.

Shields told the trial the woman enthusiastically participated in sex acts and then accused him of sexual assault.

He was charged in May 2016, five months after he retired following a suspension in the middle of a code of conduct investigation.