Mountie who showed sexual photo to assault victim during investigation got his job back

A Mountie who was fired after he showed a revealing photo of himself to an assault victim and exchanged sexual texts with her during an investigation fought successfully to get his job back by arguing he was denied a proper hearing.

An adjudicator pointed to flaws in the way the case against Const. Andrew Scott Hedderson played out, reinstated him and awarded him back pay, according to a decision recently made public and posted on the RCMP's website. 

The adjudicator also ordered a second hearing but Hedderson had since resigned from the force.

The case dates back to March of 2017 when police were called to a parking lot in Surrey, B.C. where a man had assaulted his girlfriend — referred to as 'Ms. W' in RCMP documents.

The man, identified as 'Mr. P' in those documents, was released on bail on the condition that he not contact Ms. W. He breached that order almost immediately after his release.

Both Ms. W and Hedderson provided statements as part of the RCMP conduct board's investigation into what happened next. 

RCMP conduct boards look into the most serious cases of police misconduct — ones where dismissal is on the table. They are formal, court-like processes and the adjudicators have the legal authority to order disciplinary measures, such as loss of pay or dismissal.

According to the original conduct board decision, Hedderson — who, in his statement to the conduct board, referred to himself as a "a fairly charming dude" — became the lead investigator on the breach file. The decision says Hedderson visited Ms. W at home and that the RCMP officer claimed he tried to build a rapport with her in order to obtain a statement to charge Mr. P. with a breach of his conditions.

Hedderson told the conduct board he felt that she was "kind of flirting" with him and that he tried to use that in order to make her comfortable enough to provide a statement.

Hedderson, who recently had become single at the time of the incident, told the board he did not mind the flirting as he "was going home to an empty apartment" but that the day subsequently "went completely pear shape," says the conduct board decision.

According to that decision, Hedderson said he asked Ms. W if she had any pictures of her injuries and that she showed him naked photos of herself in response.

Ms. W told the conduct board that she showed Hedderson a picture taken before a shower but hadn't realized it showed her breasts.

In her statement to the board, Ms. W said she was embarrassed and that while Hedderson had told her not to worry about, he said he now felt he had to show her something in return. Hedderson told the board Ms. W was the one pushing for a photo.

Hedderson told the board that after he got a statement from Ms. W, they came up with a plan together to deal with any attempts by Mr. P to contact her. He said he was trying to leave Ms. W's home when she made another comment about seeing a picture, and that he then showed her a photograph of himself wearing "very, very tight boxers."