RCMP Watch

Karen Boden (Westcoaster.ca) - A former RCMP officer who owned property in Port Alberni during the 1990s is on trial this week for sexual assault of a young male.

Gary Groenke retired from the police force in Sechelt in 1989, moved to Port Alberni and was owner of the Kingsway Hotel.
He also had a house in Beaver Creek.

His trial opened Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court in Port Alberni.

Groenke, who has since moved to the Lower Mainland, is accused of sexual assault, sexual interference of a person under 14 and invitation to sexual touching.

If he’s found guilty, but the court feels that the victim consented to the alleged acts, the court will have to determine the date of the offences accurately.

If the alleged victim was 14 and not 13, he would have been beyond the legal age of consent.

Police allege the offences took place at the Kingsway Hotel in 1991 when the boy came to stay with him.

The child was a member of a youth football team Groenke had coached on the Sunshine Coast.

The alleged victim, now 30, came forward with the allegations in 2005.

Tuesday afternoon was taken up with a voir dire (trial within a trial) that will determine the admissibility of telephone conversations between Groenke and the alleged victim taped by police in 2005 and 2006.

At issue, said defence lawyer Patrick Doherty, is if comments made by Groenke during the conversations were freely given.
The voir dire will continue Wednesday and after that Justice Dean Wilson will rule on the admissibility of the evidence and the trial will then continue, possibly all week.

Evidence given during a voir dire cannot be published until a ruling is given.

Groenke sat passively throughout the proceedings Tuesday on the Plexiglas-enclosed bench reserved for individuals on trial in Supreme Court.

While in Port Alberni Groenke was associated with the Sealions football program.