A former Vancouver Police Department detective who specialized in investigating child exploitation has pleaded guilty to three sex-related charges, including two that involve a minor.
James Fisher made his guilty pleas at provincial court in Surrey on Wednesday.
Fisher was originally arrested in Surrey in December 2016 on three counts of sexual exploitation, one count of breach of trust, one count of sexual assault and one count of obstructing justice by providing false or misleading information, but a BC Prosecution Service spokesperson said the Crown was proceeding on two new informations containing the entirety of the charges.
This avoids a stay of proceedings but doesn’t affect sentencing.
The two counts of breach of trust and one count of sexual exploitation that Fisher pleaded guilty to Wednesday were added in March 2017.
READ: More sex-related charges against former Vancouver detective
The charges state that Fisher abused his position of trust by kissing a young person for a sexual purpose, and kissing two witnesses in a criminal prosecution. The victims were one minor and one adult.
According to the BC Prosecution Service, the three offences took place between Aug. 22 and Dec. 7, 2015, and all took place in Surrey or Vancouver.
Fisher was a longtime detective with the VPD’s unit that investigates child exploitation. He received the 2015 Chief Constable Unit Citation for extraordinary dedication for his part in the force’s probe into a child-trafficking case.
The Vancouver Police did not comment on the case Wednesday, however Chief Const. James Palmer spoke out when charges were initially laid in 2016.
“I was upset… very troubling news,” Palmer at a press conference.
“It’s a very unfortunate set of circumstances and it’s a very difficult thing for me to stand before you today.”
Fisher is expected to be sentenced on June 29.
