RCMP Watch

Edmonton, Alberta (Canadian Press) - Alberta Justice Minister Ron Stevens apologized Wednesday to a former RCMP officer who was falsely accused of sexual assault.

John Hudak, 54, settled his lawsuit against the RCMP and Alberta Justice last week for an undisclosed amount of money. Part of the deal is that Hudak can’t say the amount.

He claimed his reputation was irrevocably damaged when he was wrongly accused of sexual assault while serving as a Mountie in Rocky Mountain House.

“We do apologize to Mr. Hudak and his family for the distress that they’ve suffered as a result of this,” Stevens said outside the legislature.

Stevens said also said the prosecutor should have dropped the charges against Hudak due to lack of evidence.

“I am saying that in this particular case we did make an error and that error was made by the prosecutor.”

Stevens said he will send a formal, signed apology letter to Hudak this week.

Hudak was acquitted at a trial in 2002 in Red Deer. At the time, the judge said he doubted a trial would have taken place at all if Hudak hadn’t been an RCMP officer.

Mildred Johnson, 65, of Rocky Mountain House made the false accusations in 2000. It was later revealed that she lied at Hudak’s preliminary hearing in 2001 and again during the trial.

Johnson was convicted later of perjury and uttering a forged document. She received a six-month conditional sentence and a year of probation. She was also named in Hudak’s lawsuit.

Hudak said he’s been waiting seven years for an apology from the province.

He agreed that the prosecutors were to blame, but also said RCMP investigators share that blame.

“They operated their investigation in a tunnel; they only wanted to come to one conclusion.”

Despite all he’s been through, Hudak said he bears no grudge towards the RCMP.

An RCMP spokesman said the service will apologize once the province has formally apologized.

Hudak, who now lives in Trail, B.C., is self-employed.