HIV-positive ex-cop convicted of sexually assaulting teen dies

AGASSIZ (NEWS1130) – An HIV-positive man and former RCMP officer convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy has died while serving time in a Fraser Valley prison.

Staff at Mountain Institution in Agassiz found 54-year old Warren Robert Allen unresponsive in his cell on Friday.

He was rushed to Chilliwack Hospital but died that afternoon.

Last year, Allen pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 14-year old boy and possessing child porn for the purposes of distribution. Police found thousands of explicit images on his computer when they arrested him during a bust in Vancouver in 2010.

Police were tipped to Allen by the FBI.

He was sentenced to just over three years in prison in January of this year, a sentence the Crown appealed.

Dimitri Kontou, Allen’s lawyer, says he was contacted by the warden of Mountain Institution, who advised him that his client had attempted suicide.

“He had been taken to hospital in bad condition, critical condition,” says Kontou.  “I then received a call about half an hour later to tell me that, in fact, Mr. Warren Allen had succeeded in his suicide attempt.  It’s very sad.”

“As to his situation at Mountain, it’s my understanding that he was in segregation almost complete from the time that he entered the institution,” Kontou adds.  “That obviously stressed him out a great deal, but as I understand it, was for his own safety or good reasons that the institution had.”
    
Kontou adds his client’s appeal was coming up for a decision in the near future.

“Unfortunately, it’s been almost five, six weeks since the matter was argued in the Court of Appeal and there was still no decision,” he explains. “That gave him a great deal of stress and concern, especially with respect to any further news media surrounding his case that might come up once a decision was out.”

Allen served as a mountie about 30 years ago in Alberta and admitted to being addicted to crystal meth for several years.