Red Deer RCMP officer faces charges over transfer of 'intimate images' on detained person's phone

A Red Deer RCMP officer is facing charges for allegedly transmitting "intimate images" from a detained person's phone while they were hospitalized.

Const. Matthew Villeneuve has been charged with breach of trust and publication of an intimate image without consent, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team said Monday.

Villeneuve has been with the force 7½ years. When the charges against him were announced, RCMP said he was on "temporary reassignment" to administrative duties. In an update on Dec. 20, an RCMP spokesperson said Villeneuve was suspended with pay on Dec. 13.

According to ASIRT, the officer reportedly accessed images on the person's phone on Nov. 23, 2023, while the person was getting treatment at the Red Deer Regional Hospital.

The police watchdog started investigating five days later.

The investigation's findings were reviewed, and the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service advised ASIRT that the evidence met the Crown's standard for prosecution, ASIRT said in a statement Monday.

ASIRT executive director Michael Ewenson "determined that the involved officer should be charged," the statement said.

ASIRT didn't provide further details about what the images were or how they were allegedly transferred.

Under the section of the Criminal Code for one of Villeneuve's charges, an intimate image is defined as a photo or recording where a person is nude or engaged in "explicit" sexual activity — or "there were circumstances that give rise to reasonable expectation of privacy" at the time of the recording.

Villeneuve is due in court in Red Deer on Feb. 26.