Edmonton police officer faces possible prison term for sexual advances toward victims of crime

A suspended Edmonton police officer is facing the possibility of prison time for a two-year pattern of making sexual advances toward vulnerable women while he was on duty.

Edmonton Police Service Const. Hunter Robinz admitted that he used his position of authority to pursue contact with eight women who were victims of crime or in need of police help. The misconduct took place between 2017 and 2019, when Alberta's police watchdog began an investigation, and ultimately laid charges in 2021.

None of the women can be identified due to a publication ban.

After Robinz pleaded guilty last year to one count of breach of trust, the Crown stayed three other charges he was facing. He's been suspended without pay from EPS for the last four years.

Crown prosecutor Photini Papadatou said Tuesday that Robinz's actions call for him to spend at least two years in prison. She asked Court of King's Bench Justice Susan Bercov to consider a sentence of up to three years, arguing that Robinz continues to demonstrate a lack of insight about the impact of his actions.

"Frankly, you also put him in a position where he can't ever be a police officer again," Papadatou said.

"There are some things you don't get a second shot at. One of those is being a police officer, protecting our society, when you've committed these offences."

Defence lawyer Allan Fay said Robinz should be allowed to serve his sentence in the community with a two-year period of house arrest and restrictive conditions.

Court heard that a forensic psychiatrist who assessed Robinz concluded that he has post-traumatic stress disorder linked to his past military service, including being deployed in Afghanistan.

"The doctor posits that the PTSD may have resulted in my client having struggles with impulsivity," Fay said.

"Although one can rightfully argue that his efforts were not spur of the moment, that they went on for some time, nonetheless there is an impulsive aspect to it … ignoring his duty as a police officer and engaging in this behaviour."

Fay said regardless of the ultimate length of the sentence, there's "little doubt" that Robinz will never work as a police officer again.

In 2022, he was additionally convicted of careless use or storage of a firearm for keeping a carbine rifle and ammunition in an unlocked case in his bedroom closet.

"Mr. Robinz has suffered public disgrace in the community in which he lives — not only the greater community, but the community of police officers," Fay said.

Papadatou said Robinz knew he could face serious professional consequences when he was using his position of power for his own sexual gratification, but he stopped only when he was caught.

She told the court that his conduct ultimately undermines the public's ability to trust police, pointing to the case of one young woman who Robinz and another officer found in a public park, intoxicated and in a state of distress.

They drove her home after she refused an ambulance, but Robinz returned later, on his own, and made unwanted sexual advances toward her while she pleaded for him to leave.

"He engaged in this behaviour when he was supposed to be assisting members of the public," Papadatou said.

"He was not serving the public and he was certainly not protecting her."

The judge is expected to hand down a decision on May 16.