Former Kelowna Mountie faces possible jail time for breach of trust

A former RCMP officer has pleaded guilty to one count of breach of trust of a public officer for pursuing sexual relationships with seven women he met through his work at the Kelowna RCMP detachment.

Brian Burkett, 38, left the RCMP in 2017 after the allegations against him came to light and he was suspended without pay.

He was initially charged with seven counts of breach of trust, but accepted a plea deal with the B.C. Prosecution Service, which combined all seven allegations into one criminal charge.

The Crown is seeking a jail sentence of six months to a year. 

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Burkett's defence lawyer asked the court for a conditional sentence of six months to a year, which would be served in the community.

A Crown prosecutor read out details of the case in court, saying the RCMP became aware of Burkett's behaviour when a woman complained to the police about her encounter with him. 

Burkett was assigned to take a statement from the woman about a domestic assault, according to the lawyer, but he later contacted her by phone and text message and sent obscene photos of himself.

The RCMP started investigating Burkett and found similar communications on his cellphone with six other women.

Two of the women were victims of domestic assault, one woman was being harassed by an ex-boyfriend and Burkett met a fourth woman when her family contacted the RCMP because she was suicidal, the lawyer said. 

Another victim spoke about her encounters with Burkett through a victim impact statement she read to the court during the sentencing hearing. 

Her name and the identities of the other victims are subject to a publication ban ordered by the judge.

'He would help me make the charge go away'

The woman said she met Burkett when he pulled her over during a traffic stop in 2015. She was driving with a suspended licence and Burkett impounded her car, she said.

"He said you know if we meet up we can do something about this ticket," she said.

"At that point I had a good job, I was just rebuilding my life, I'd gone through a break-up, I had brought myself up to where I was a very respectable member of society and I was afraid to lose that, so I agreed to meet with him."

The woman said she got into Burkett's car and he coerced her into a sexual encounter.

"That was the deal, that he would help make the charge go away. That didn't happen. And I have to live with the embarrassment and the guilt and the shame that I did that."

After the encounter Burkett continued to send her explicit photos of himself and would not stop contacting her, she said.

The experience led her to relapse back into her drug addiction and she attempted suicide, the woman said, adding she was left with a distrust of the RCMP and authority figures.

Humbling and humiliating experience

In court, Burkett told the judge he has been trying to rebuild his life since he left the RCMP.

"This experience has been the most humbling and the scariest and most humiliating time of my life," he said.

"I've worked hard to rebuild my life to have a career again, to reconnect with my family."

He didn't mention the women he victimized, but offered the court an apology for his actions.

"They are not who I am. I am really hoping, your honour, for an opportunity to be able to continue my career, and continue to live my life the best way that I can."

That apology fell flat for the one victim who was in court for the hearing. 

"He didn't say he was sorry for what he has done. It was about his kids and his career," she said.

"What about my life and what about the trauma that I and the other girls who aren't here with me but I know they are here in spirit — what about what we've had to do? We are terrified." 

The judge has reserved her sentencing decision until later this summer.