Former Kelowna Mountie handed probation in sexting case [Video]

A former Okanagan RCMP officer who exchanged explicit messages with a victim of domestic violence has been given a conditional discharge and 12 months of probation for attempting to obstruct justice.

Former Kelowna Mountie Sean Eckland pleaded guilty in the case that began when he and another officer responded to a serious domestic assault in Lake Country, B.C., in 2018.

The B.C. Provincial Court ruling says they found a woman seriously injured, and her boyfriend was charged with aggravated assault, sexual assault, uttering threats and forcible confinement.

The ruling says Eckland and the victim, whose name is under a publication ban, began “sexting” in the months after the assault, with Eckland regularly using his personal device as he was not provided a work phone.

An agreed statement of facts says the woman’s boyfriend became aware of the exchanges, resulting in a witness-tampering investigation, and Eckland eventually disclosed the inappropriate texts …