BRIDGEWATER, N.S. — The former chief of the Bridgewater police force was found guilty on Thursday of sexual exploitation and sexual assault of a teenaged girl who had once considered him a sort of father figure.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Mona Lynch announced the decision in court in Bridgewater.
Because the offence of sexual exploitation encompasses all of the aspects of sexual assault, she issued a conditional stay on the sexual assault conviction, Crown attorney Roland Levesque explained after the court session.
The charges related to inappropriate sexualized Facebook messages and sexual touching of the victim, who was just shy of her 17th birthday at the time of the 2016 offence. She cannot be named due to a publication ban protecting her identity.
In her decision, the judge related the disturbing details of the crime.
Collyer had befriended the teen and her family in the years after they moved to the Bridgewater area in 2009. The girl was enrolled in several community programs in which Collyer was involved as a mentor. At the time, he was deputy chief of the town's police department, later becoming chief of the force.
Collyer and his wife Sheri became very involved with the victim's family and were included in family events, birthdays, visits and holidays.
Over the years, Collyer attended the girl's medical appointments, took her shopping, out for breakfast and swimming.
A psychologist who testified during the trial, which ran for six days in July and three more in September, told the court that the victim functioned at a lower maturity level than her physical age and was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Collyer and the girl exchanged frequent Facebook messages and texts and the court heard that they became sexual in nature. Collyer's explanation was that when he was drinking, he has no filter and he then sometimes used sexual innuendo with family and friends.
“This 'sexual innuendo' was in messages to an adolescent who he knew had mental health disorders,” Lynch said in rendering her decision. “This sexual innuendo was in messages to a person functioning between the ages of 10 and 12 years old. These messages were to someone who thought of him as a father figure.”
The judge said they lead to an inference of an older man grooming a young girl to have sexual contact.
The victim testified that in the spring of 2016, Collyer picked her up in his two-seat convertible vehicle and took her to a drive-thru car wash. The water came through the material of the car's top and then used rags to try to stop the water, then took a drive to help it dry.
The girl told the court that they were on their way to a cemetery, where she wanted to visit a grave, when Collyer asked her if she had been able to give herself an orgasm and then put his hand between her legs, pushed aside her skort and panties and put his fingers in her vagina. The girl did not consent to this contact.
While Collyer denied doing this, the judge found the girl's testimony to be more credible.
Lynch also referenced the fact Collyer sent messages apologizing for his inappropriate texts and that when his cellphone went missing, his excuse that he lost it while doing business in the Halifax area contradicted location data retrieved by IT investigators, who tracked the last usage to the Bridgewater area days before the time Collyer suggested he lost it.
A more reasonable inference is that Collyer, knowing data can be retrieved from the device, disposed of it, the judge said.
“The evidence of John Collyer does not leave me with a reasonable doubt about his guilt or about an essential element of the offences,” Lynch said. “The evidence that I do believe and accept from the complainant proves the guilt of John Collyer beyond a reasonable doubt.
Levesque praised the girl and her family for their bravery in following through in a case against such a prominent person in the community, one who held a lot of power.
“They're very, very emotional right now,” the Crown attorney said. “They've been going through this process for, I think, three years or so, and both the complainant and her mother – her whole family – they're just very emotional.”
Defence lawyer David Bright declined to comment on behalf of Collyer.
At Province House, Justice Minister Mark Furey, who is a former RCMP officer, said he has worked in the past with the former police chief, but he is “not going to pass judgment upon it or the circumstances.
“These are tragic circumstances when individuals are victimized at the hands of authority,” Furey said. “The court process has run its course, no different than anyone else.”
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 4, 2020.
– With files from Andrew Rankin
RELATED:
Woman testifies former Bridgewater Police chief accused of sexual assault was like second father
Deleted, missing evidence comes to fore of Bridgewater police chief’s sexual assault trial
