A high-profile former Vancouver police detective who worked on the force’s Counter-Exploitation Unit has pleaded guilty to three sex offence charges, two of them involving a minor.
Detective Const. James (Jim) Fisher had been facing more than half-a-dozen charges, including sexual assault, breach of trust and obstruction of justice.
He has now pleaded guilty to three charges, and will face sentencing on June 29.
The BC Prosecution Service said of said both women were witnesses in a criminal case. It said the Crown was not proceeding with the other charges.
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) declined to comment on Fisher’s case.
Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter spokesperson Sophia Hladik expressed disappointment with the plea.
“Fisher’s plea means he will not be held accountable for the full extent of the charges against him. We are, however, relived his victims will be spared from testifying in court.”
The exploitation charge comes carries a maximum prison sentence of two years, and a minimum term of 90 days. Breach of trust carries a maximum sentence of five years.
WATCH: Vancouver Police officer facing sexual exploitation charges
Fisher, a 29-year veteran of the force, was arrested in December 2016, when he was originally charged with six criminal charges. More charges were added in May of last year.
At the time of the original charges, Vancouver police Chief Adam Palmer said the charges related to at least two victims, a juvenile and an adult, and that an investigation of Fisher had begun back in 2015. Palmer added that the information that spurred the investigation came from another officer.
Fisher was suspended as a result of the investigation but was on active duty up until his arrest. He retired last year.
Respected officer
Prior to the charges, Fisher had been honoured as a distinguished officer, winning the Vancouver Police Department’s Chief Constable’s Unit citation for spearheading an investigation that cracked a teen human trafficking ring.
That investigation brought down Reza Moazami, the first person convicted of human trafficking in British Columbia.
Moazami was given a 23-year sentence for pimping teen girls, some as young as 14.
Before his work with the counter-exploitation unit, Fisher was the VPD’s intelligence coordinator, specializing in Asian crime.
-With files from John Daly
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