A man who was working as a jail guard a the Lac La Biche RCMP detachment has been charged with sexual assault.
La La Biche RCMP say they have charged a 66-year-old Athabasca-area man in connection to an investigation stemming from an alleged April 12, 2019 incident where the man was on duty.
In a police news release issued today, RCMP say the allegation is a serious one, and that while the investigation continues, there will be no comments following the news release.
"The RCMP takes all allegations of sexual assault very seriously ... Our investigators worked to determine the circumstances of the assault allegation, identify and preserve evidence, and forward a thorough investigation to Crown counsel where the facts and evidence supported a charged," states a portion of the release issued by Fraser Logan with the RCMP media relations group.
The statement also points out that the jail guard is not an employee of the RCMP, but was working at the detachment under contract at the time of the alleged offence.
Police say the allegations were brought to their attention last October. At that time, the accused was no longer a contracted jail guard.
Rodney Smith, 66, has been charged with a single count of sexual assault, and will make his first appearance in Lac La Biche Provincial Court on June 29.
