Suspended B.C. Mountie charged with voyeurism, sexual assault

Ottawa police have charged a suspended RCMP officer from British Columbia with 34 counts of voyeurism and three counts of sexual assault, crimes alleged to have taken place over a seven-year span in this city.

Andrew Seangio, 35, of Richmond, B.C., was charged Wednesday. Police said Seangio was living in Ottawa when the alleged incidents took place between 2011 and 2018.

In a news release Thursday, Ottawa police said the alleged victims are six adult women who were all known to Seangio. 

Seangio turned himself in to police in Vancouver on Thursday morning, Ottawa police said.

Ottawa police said sexual assault and child abuse investigators became involved in the case after they were contacted by the Vancouver Police Department in January 2020 "to assist them in their ongoing investigation, involving indecent acts."

Seangio was charged in British Columbia in March 2020, in relation to the Vancouver investigation.

Ottawa police said they believe there may be additional victims and are asking any women who were present in Seangio's south Ottawa residence between October 2015 and October 2017 to contact them. 

"The Ottawa police will respect a victim's wishes to pursue or not pursue the matter before the courts," police said in the news release. "The reporting of these incidents by victims to police is key for investigators to identify suspects and determine crime trends."

Acting superintendent Carl Cartright told CBC that Ottawa police don't know at this time whether Seangio was serving as an RCMP officer during the time of the alleged offences in Ottawa, and said in any event the charges are unrelated to his employment. 

A spokesperson for the RCMP confirmed via email that Seangio began his training at the Depot Division in Regina in June 2016, and was posted to Richmond in November 2016. 

Ottawa police said their investigation is ongoing.