RCMP officer's plea on sex crime delayed as defence awaits evidence

An RCMP officer accused of a sex crime delayed entering a plea on the charge Thursday while awaiting disclosure of the evidence in the case.

Cpl.Jeremy Bastarache, 36,faces a charge alleging he made arrangements with a person for the purpose of facilitating a sexual offence toward a person he believed to be under 16 years of age.

Bastarache, who was released on conditions after his arrest pending trial, was not present when the case returned to Moncton provincial court on Thursday.

A lawyer there on his behalf, Adrian Forsythe, toldJudge Luc Labontthat Bastarache's plea would need to wait for further information from the Crown prosecutor.

Labontwas told the information should be provided in the next few days. The judge agreed to delay the plea until Oct. 3.

The RCMPhas said Bastarachehas been suspended with pay.

The alleged offence happened in the Shediac areabetween April 24 and 29. The charge waslaid June 10.

An affidavit from RCMP Cpl. Jean-Sebastien Marcottewas filed in court in support of an arrest warrant in June and lays out what led to thearrest.

The affidavit states that the RCMP's Internet Child Exploitation unit received a referral from Australianfederal police on May 27, 2024.

The referral said Australian police received a report from a website that one of its users "attempted to procure an underage female for child abuse purposes."

The affidavit said that while reviewing three images linked to the reported account,Marcotte and other members of the Internet Child Exploitation unit recognizedBastarache.

The affidavit says the websiteaccount's IP address was linked to an internet account associated withBastarache in Shediac River.

The June affidavit says Bastarache had recently transferredfrom New Brunswick to work in Kinngait, a communityof about 1,400 people inNunavut.

Marcotte's affidavit saysBastarache was flying back to New Brunswick on June 9 as part of his relocation, with a stop in Ottawa, when he was arrested by the RCMPat the Ottawa airport.

The allegations in theaffidavit have not been proven in court.

Defence lawyer Nathan Gorhampreviously told reporters thatBastarache would plead not guilty to the charge.

"He's looking forward to having his day in court and to having the Crown and the court consider his account of the events and his side of the story on things, and he's anxious for the process to unfold," Gorhamsaid in July.