Former Surrey RCMP officer charged in Creep Catchers case sentenced to 4 months
Dario Devic will serve his sentence in the community
A former RCMP officer who was targeted in a Creep Catchers sting has been handed a four-month conditional sentence, avoiding any time in jail.
Dario Devic will serve two months of house arrest, followed by two months under a curfew. After that, he'll be on probation for one year.
The former officer was arrested after he was lured by a 30-year-old woman posing online as a 15-year-old girl in September 2016.
The vigilante group behind the sting, Creep Catchers, posted a video of the resulting encounter on Facebook.
Devic was arrested the following week and pleaded guilty to breach of trust in August.
'Well aware' of disgrace: lawyer
Lawyers for the Crown sought a conditional one-year sentence for Devic to be served in the community. They wanted him placed under strict house arrest for the first six months, and under a curfew after that.
Devic's lawyer, Rishi Gill, had asked for a conditional discharge.
Gill said his client had a major lapse in judgment when he agreed to the meeting in 2016.
"He is well aware that he has disgraced the uniform," Gill said during a sentencing hearing last month.
The lawyer said photos sent to Devic before the meeting "clearly" showed an adult woman in her mid-20s or early 30s.
"He's always stated that he never believed that the person was under the age of consent," the lawyer added.
Devic had also been facing a charge of luring a person under the age of 16, but the Crown dropped that charge in exchange for the guilty plea.
The deal also means Devic won't be a designated sex offender.
Both Crown and defence agreed the main purpose of sentencing should be denunciation and deterrence.
Devic has since been discharged from the RCMP. Gill said he has acknowledged his career in law enforcement is over.
With files from Jesse Johnston