2 Vancouver-area police officers acquitted of sex assault charges in Cuba
Constables Mark Simms, Jordan Long barred from leaving Cuba since mid-March
Two Vancouver-area police officers who have been held in Cuba since mid-March over an alleged sexual assault have been acquitted.
Const. Mark Simms, 29, of the Vancouver Police Department and Const. Jordan Long, 31, of the Port Moody Police Department were barred from leaving Cuba after their arrest last spring while on vacation in Varadero.
The arrests came after a fellow tourist, a 17-year-old from Ontario, reported she had been sexually assaulted. Few details of the case have been released, but in April, Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay said Simms was accused of the sexual assault, while Long was being held as a material witness.
Both men and their families maintained they were innocent.
A family member of one of the officers told CBC News the men were acquitted Thursday in court.
The families of Simms and Long are now trying to get them home as quickly as possible.
With files from Eric Rankin