HALIFAX - Nova Scotia's police watchdog says it won't lay charges against an RCMP officer accused of groping two female Mounties, because neither woman wanted criminal charges laid.
Investigators say two Mounties were touched "in circumstances of a sexual nature, without their consent" after a team-building exercise at a bar on April 17.
The accused is a member of the Nova Scotia RCMP's tactical team, taking part in a training exercise at CFB Aldershot, N.S., and was described as "very drunk."
According to the Serious Incident Response Team report, the accused officer forced his hands up one member's shirt and touched her breasts before he was pulled away by another member.
A second female officer then felt a hand under her shirt and swatted it away -- she punched the male officer in the face when he tried it again, although it appeared to have no effect on him.
SIRT says it determined a sexual assault charge could be brought against the officer, but the case was dropped after both women indicated in writing that they did not wish to have the matter "advance to the stage of criminal charges being laid."
