Codiac RCMP charge one of their own with sex crime

A New BrunswickRCMPofficer has been accused of communicating for a sexual purpose with someone be believed was under 16.

The RCMP charged the officer on Monday following an investigation by the Serious Incident Response Team.

A release from SIRT said the agency worked with the RCMP's Integrated Child Exploitation unit and Digital Forensic Services.

Cpl. Hans Ouellette, a spokesperson with the RCMP in New Brunswick, said the charged officer is not on active duty. He later identified the officer as Cpl. Jeremy Bastarache.

When reached by phone Monday afternoon, SIRT director Erin Nauss said the officer was stationed with the Codiac RCMPat the time of the alleged offencesbut is nowworking outside New Brunswick.

Nauss said the information states that the officer "did by means of telecommunication, make arrangement with a person, for the purpose of facilitating a sexual offencetowards a person whom he believed to be under 16 years old,the commission of" a sex crime.

The offences are alleged to have occurred "at or near Shediac" between April 24 and 29.

Nauss declined to provide any more details, saying it is important to protect the integrity of the investigation and court process.

SIRT is responsible for investigating all matters that involve death, serious injury, sexual assault and intimate partner violence or other matters of a public interest that may have arisen from the actions of a police officer.

The Nova Scotia-based response team investigates incidents in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where they opened an office in Marysville Place in Fredericton last October.