Editor’s note: this story has been updated to indicate that the status of charges against the two officers remains unclear.
A pair of B.C. police officers who have been detained in Cuba since March in relation to an alleged sexual assault are now facing possible criminal charges.
Sources tell Global News an officer from the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is facing a potential charge of rape, and prosecutors are seeking a sentence of seven years in prison.
WATCH: New details on arrests of two Vancouver area police officers in Cuba
His friend, a member from the Port Moody Police Department (PMPD), is facing a potential charge of accessory to the alleged rape, and could be facing four years in prison, according to a source.
The two men were in Varadero partying at a resort in March when the assault is alleged to have occurred.
The Vancouver officer is alleged to have engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old woman from Ontario.
Whether the officers knew the young woman’s age is not known.
The two officers have been trapped in the country for 137 days. They were arrested at the time and held in a Cuban jail before being released, but barred from leaving the country.
No date has been set for the trial yet.
Another source close to the case says the recommended charges must be approved by a court before they can proceed.
He said it is akin to a grand jury system approving charges in some U.S. courts.
At this point, the charges from the recommending prosecutor have yet to be approved by the court, according to the source.
WATCH: Two Lower Mainland police officers remain in Cuba after assault allegations
Under Cuba’s justice system, they will be tried in front of a five-member panel made up of three professional judges and two Cuban citizens.
Global News has learned there are three witnesses in the case, including the alleged victim and a security guard.
In a previous interview with Global News, Pedro Pablo Isla Canizares — a civil lawyer with 30 years in Cuba — explained that in the Cuban system, charges are only laid at the end of an investigation.
Cuban investigators had 60 days to present their findings to a prosecutor, he explained, and a health test had to be conducted on the alleged victim.
The two officers have been living in a monthly rental off Varadero’s tourist beach strip at their own expense.
The VPD and PMPD are not commenting.
-With files from Rumina Daya and Jesse Ferreras
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