Mountie in bondage photos put on desk duty

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The commissioner of the Missing Women Inquiry wants to know more about disturbing pictures of an RCMP Corporal that showed up on S & M website.

Wally Oppal has asked commission counsel to look into Cpl. Jim Brown’s involvement in the Robert Pickton case.

“What we have known all along is Cpl. Brown introduced Vancouver police to a man named Caldwell, and Caldwell had information that Pickton was involved in the killing of a woman,” Oppal says.  “Caldwell was an informant but Caldwell’s evidence [was not] contradicted and is before the commission.”

Oppal says as far as he knows Brown never met Caldwell or Pickton in person.

The Coquitlam Detachment first became aware of the staged photos in December, 2010, but it was believed they existed only on the member’s personal flash drive and it was decided he did not commit a Code of Conduct violation.

In March of this year, they learned the photos were on a personal website, and the photos were subsequently removed.

A code of conduct investigation was ordered and is being led by the Richmond RCMP.  
 
In a release, the Assistant Commissioner, Randy Beck said “While we must strike a balance between an individual’s rights and freedoms when off duty and the RCMP Code of Conduct, I am personally embarrassed and very disappointed that the RCMP would be, in any way, linked to photos of that nature.”

“The member’s full involvement in the Pickton investigation was provided to the [Missing Women] Inquiry in keeping with normal disclosure practices.  We will continue to cooperate fully with the Inquiry and we will inform the Inquiry of the findings of our Code of Conduct investigation as well as those of the independent external review.

The member is currently on Administrative duties.

Now Oppal wants to make absolutely sure there isn’t anything more to the story.

“Because of the somewhat disturbing nature of what was reported by Ian Mulgrew of the Vancouver Sun, I’ve asked commission counsel to see if there is anything that will affect this commission inquiry,” Oppal says.

“At this time, we have no evidence to support reopening the MWCI hearings,” Oppal adds.

Psychologist Dr. Mike Webster counsels police officers and says he’s been aware of the pictures for about a year.

He says even though the scenes are staged and the woman who appears in the images with Brown has given her consent, they are still disturbing.

“He calls himself the Kilted Knight and he appears often times in a kilt and often times with his high brown Mountie dress boots on,” Webster says.  “In one I can recall he’s standing with a sword in one hand and a severed head in the other.”

He says there are several other series of photos that show the Kilted Knight stalking and killing a woman.

“If it was my neighbour who was in that picture, fine, I can understand that,” Webster says.  “But this is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who we are going to task with investigating files where females are involved.  The RCMP is absolutely out of touch with the public that they serve.  The RCMP, a once proud national icon, is quickly becoming a national disgrace.”