A Vancouver Police officer has been arrested and charged with sexual exploitation and sexual assault, VPD Chief Constable Adam Palmer announced Thursday.
Detective Constable Jim Fisher, a 29-year veteran officer with the VPD, was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation, one count of sexual assault, one count of breach of trust, and one count of attempt to obstruct justice.
Fisher was the lead investigator in the human trafficking investigation of Reza Moazami in 2014 and part of the VPD’s Counter Exploitation Unit.
Fisher recently received the 2015 Chief Constable Unit Citation award for his work in the Counter Exploitation Unit on a case that involved a man forcing at least 11 young girls into the sex trade.
He also received a B.C. government Community Safety and Crime Prevention Award in 2014 for his work on the Moazami case.
Palmer says their investigation took place between 2015 and November 2016. There are two known victims, one child and one adult.
In one of the counts, Fisher is charged with sexually touching a witness in a criminal prosecution case between August and December 2015. The three charges of sexual exploitation were against one individual during the same time period.
Fisher has now been suspended from duty until the investigation is complete. He remained on active police duty until Dec. 28 and did not know he was under investigation.
He was released on bail from Surrey Provincial Court Thursday morning and will next appear on Jan. 24, 2017 at 9 a.m.