RNC officer Doug Snelgrove's sexual assault appeal has been dismissed, sources say
CBC
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Const. Doug Snelgrove is going to prison, more than eight years after the on-duty St. John's police officer raped a young woman in her own living room.
Multiple sources have confirmed to CBC News that the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador has dismissed Snelgrove's request to overturn or stay his sex assault conviction, handed down in 2021.
Snelgrove has been out on bail for the last 16 months as he waited for the appeal decision.
The St. John's police officer sexually assaulted a woman he had driven home from a downtown bar in 2014. According to the survivor's testimony, Snelgrove offered her a ride in his patrol car. When they arrived at her home, he helped her inside her living room, where the sexual contact happened.
The survivor testified she was intoxicated and can't remember to consenting to any sexual acts between them and said she only recalls regaining consciousness in the middle of a sex act.
She reported the assault a few weeks later to then RNC Const. Kelsey Muise, who brought the report to her superiors, who launched a criminal investigation.
In her victim impact statement, the woman said Snelgrove's assault, and the investigations and trials that followed, had left her considering suicide.
Tuesday's news comes six years after Snelgrove first went to trial in 2017. He was acquitted at the time, but prosecutors appealed that decision, arguing the Supreme Court justice failed to consider Snelgrove's position of trust as a police officer when instructing the jury to make their decision.
The second trial in 2020 ended prematurely, however, which prompted a third trial a year later.
He was convicted at that trial but appealed the decision, arguing the provincial Supreme Court violated the Criminal Code during trial proceedings. Snelgrove's lawyers pointed to several instances in which Snelgrove wasn't present for conferences between lawyers and the judge, and argued that amounted to a miscarriage of justice.
Snelgrove was sentenced to four years in prison. He remains a constable employed by the RNC, which is under public and legal scrutiny after the Snelgrove trials prompted several more complainants to accuse other police officers of sexually assaulting them.
CBC News has asked the RNC for comment.
Sources say the official appeal decision will likely be released by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday.
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
The notion that home ownership guarantees financial security in old age is being challenged by a recent survey.
The family of Nash Prystie has identified him as the man who died in an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) shooting earlier this month north of Kenora, and is calling for more and quicker help for people with mental health challenges.
Playoff action in the Ontario Hockey League gets underway Thursday night for Guelph and Friday in Kitchener.
UPEI wants its faculty to sign on to an updated version of its sexual assault and discrimination policy, but the union that represents the school's academic staff says it wants the policies to be part of its collective agreement.
In Texas this week for a global energy conference, the federal natural resources minister is proclaiming "Canada is back" and ready to bolster its energy sector and grow exports.
Members of Parliament last year went on the fewest sponsored international trips in the last 15 years, excluding the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ontario is running out of time to beef up rules that would crack down on negligent and misbehaving municipal politicians ahead of the next civic election, some experts and opposition critics warn.
Six London teens are each facing multiple charges following a break-and-enter spree at homes in the city's southwest end early Sunday, police said.
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure is putting the finishing touches on completing the Team Gushue Highway, but it means drivers might have to change their routes until later this summer.
Passage of the Nova Scotia government's budget bill stalled late Tuesday night when a group of singing protesters shut down the final vote to approve the budget.
Health Minister John Dornan said Woodstock-based eVisitNB will continue to provide virtual health-care services to New Brunswickers for another 90 days after March 31.
The head of Canada's largest airline has been summoned to Ottawa to explain why he spoke only in English when he offered his condolences to the families of those killed or hurt in the collision between a plane and a fire truck at a New York City airport on Sunday.
Manitoba is bucking a national trend by promising to slash its deficit, while boosting health care spending by nearly $1 billion and delivering modest affordability measures, including a PST cut that will save you money next time you buy a soda and bag of chips.