An Edmonton police officer has admitted to using his position of power to prey on women he encountered on duty for his “own sexual gratification.”

Const. of the Edmonton Police Service Hunter Robinz pleaded guilty to one count of breach of trust in the Court of King’s Bench on October 21. He is awaiting sentencing and is due back in court on Friday.

Robinz admitted to multiple breaches of trust during his on-duty interactions with eight women, from March 2017 to June 2019.

The court heard he exhibited predatory behavior – repeatedly making inappropriate sexual advances towards crime victims or complainants he met through his work.

An agreed statement of facts filed with the court details Robinz’s misconduct toward eight victims. Their names are protected by a publication ban.

The charges were laid by Alberta’s Serious Incident Response Team, which began investigating a sexual assault charge against Robinz in August 2019.

He was arrested in 2021 after the watchdog’s investigation found evidence he had committed multiple breaches of trust, including repeated searches of secure police databases for names and addresses unrelated to his duties as a police officer.

Three other charges against Robinz – sexual assault, unauthorized use of a computer database and a second count of breach of trust – were stayed by the Crown.

Unwanted encounter

The investigation began in August 2019 following an encounter between Robinz and a 24-year-old woman who claimed she was attacked by Robinz after he entered her home uninvited while in uniform. and in service.

The unwelcome sexual advances took place on the night of June 29, 2019.

The woman was drunk and distressed after a night at the bar when she called police from a public park.

Robinz and another officer responded to the call and drove her home, stopping along the way to collect the keys to the woman’s Edmonton apartment from her roommates who were on duty at a McDonald’s restaurant.

Robinz returned to the woman’s home later that evening, using the roommate’s keys to enter the apartment. The woman remembers crying as Robinz put his hands on her waist and tried to kiss her.

He kissed her several times while she pushed him away and yelled at him. Eventually he let her go upstairs to use the bathroom and when she came out he was halfway down the stairs.

He tried to kiss her again and she asked him if he needed a warrant to enter her home. She told him “no” and she had to push him away again, the court heard. She begged him to leave, asking him to go more than 20 times before finally leaving.

“She stated that she felt lucky not to be ‘drunk’ because she was able to say ‘no’ and push him away and he eventually left,” reads an agreed statement of facts.

Early the next morning, the woman received a series of sexually explicit text messages from Robinz on social media, through his Facebook account, Ranger Sparrow.

The following month, she reported the assault to ASIRT and the agency’s investigation into Robinz began. Robinz was transferred from his patrol work to administrative duties.

His police phone was seized. Investigators discovered a series of messages revealing that Robinz had sought sex with several crime victims.

In March 2017, he sent explicit text messages to the sister of a woman he had been called to help after she became suicidal.

In May 2018, he was called to help a woman following a suspicious person in her garden. She reported Robinz to the EPS Public Standards Department a few days later for sending her an unsolicited and inappropriate text message.

The woman was concerned that Robinz had contacted her through the social media platform Snapchat in a way that suggested he had accessed her personal information.

In October 2018, Robinz responded to a domestic violence call regarding a man who had violated his court orders and contacted his ex-partner. Robinz quickly struck up a relationship with the domestic violence victim.

The woman told investigators about the relationship with Robinz after her ex again violated her court orders and sexually assaulted her.

The EPS Professional Standards Branch investigated the relationship, but Robinz lied about meeting the woman in his capacity as a police officer, according to the agreed statement of facts.

Other victims include the victim of an attempted break and enter and a victim of domestic violence who was attacked at the Edmonton Inn. After calling the police for help, Robinz was assigned as the lead investigator in her case.

All offenses occurred while Robinz was on active duty.

Robinz admitted to using his position in public office for purposes other than the public good, primarily for his own sexual gratification.– Agreed Statement of Facts

“Robinz admitted to using his position in public office for purposes other than the public good, primarily for his own sexual gratification,” the agreed statement of facts states.

During a court appearance last week, Staff Sgt. Harry Grewal, head of the EPS sexual assault section, commented on the impact of Robinz’s misconduct.

Grewal described Robinz’s actions as egregious. He said the officer’s behavior had a profound impact on the victims and eroded public trust in the police.

Robinz victimized already vulnerable individuals and undermined trust in law enforcement, Grewal wrote.

“Every day, our officers encounter people in the midst of the worst times of their lives. All are in a state of vulnerability, some significantly so,” Grewal wrote.

“The trust the community places in us during these times is significant and, in turn, our commitment to honoring it must be too.”

Robinz remains a member of the PES, but has been suspended without pay since March 2021 after being charged by Parkland RCMP with assault and unsafe storage of a firearm during an alleged attack on his wife. do.

He was convicted of negligent use or storage of a firearm for storing a rifle and two live ammunition magazines in an unlocked case in his bedroom closet, but was acquitted of the assault.

The maximum penalty for breach of trust is 14 years in prison. Sentencing deliberations are expected to continue Friday.