The director of public prosecutions says the Crown is ready to defend the conviction and sentence for RNC constable Doug Snelgrove.
Word this week that Snelgrove was appealing the guilty verdict and four-year sentence for sexual assault caught many off guard, given the case has already been tried three times.
But in the appeal dated December 2, the defence claims the punishment was “harsh and unfit,” and that the judge didn’t properly instruct the jury on the key issue of inducing sex by abusing a position of trust or authority.
Snelgrove, now 44, was on duty and in uniform when he sexually assaulted a young woman in her apartment seven years ago on December 20.
In sentencing him, Justice Vikas Khaladkar said he could not find another case in Canada where an on-duty, uniformed officer had done such a thing.
Meanwhile, in a statement to VOCM, public prosecutions director Lloyd Strickland said the Crown is prepared to argue that the conviction and sentence should be upheld.
Messages left for Snelgrove’s new Toronto lawyer, Janini Shanmuganathan have not been returned.
Snelgrove has so far been doing his time at the Bishop’s Falls Correctional Centre.
It’s unclear whether he’s applied for release pending the outcome of the appeal.