Ex-Gagetown soldier sentenced to 3 years for sexual assault released pending appeal

A former soldier at a Canadian forces base in New Brunswick who wassentenced Thursday in British Columbia to three yearsin prison for sexually touching an unconscious female colleague and secretly recording another while she used the washroom has been granted releasepending an appeal.

Retired Cpl. Colin McGregoris appealing his court martial conviction and sentence at CFB Esquimalt in Victoria, said public affairs officer Maj.Edward Stewart.

The notice of appeal cites "the legality of any or all of the findings with regards to all [five] charges, and specifically the dismissal of the charter applications in respect of the search and seizure" of his home in Arlington, Va., in 2017, as well as"the delay," said Stewart.

McGregoris also appealing the legality of thesentence imposed by the military judge, which includeddismissalwith disgrace from the Canadian Armed Forces, an order to provide a DNA sample for the sexoffenders registry, and a 10-year prohibitionfrom owning any weapons, including firearms, crossbows and explosives.

"It could be about six to nine months before the matter is heard," said Stewart.

The court martial administrator has 90 days to produce the appeal book, and McGregorwill then have 30 days to file his memorandum of fact and law, Stewart said. The Canadian Armed Forces will have 30 days to file a response and then a hearing date will be scheduled.

McGregor, who lives in Alberta,has beenreleased on an undertaking to report his whereabouts to the military police,to not contact the complainants and to surrender himself into custody when required to do so, said Stewart.

The 14-year veteran was found guilty Monday of sexual assault, two counts of voyeurism, one count of possession of a device for surreptitious interception of private communication, and disgraceful conduct.

The offences occurred between Jan. 1, 2011, and Jan. 30, 2017, in Victoria and in Alexandria, Va., where McGregor lived while workinga resource management support clerk with Canadian defence liaison staff in Washington, D.C.

The two victims were military membersin Esquimaltand Washingtonat the time of the incidents, officials have said.

Sexual assault carries a maximum sentence of 10 yearsin prison.

McGregor wasfound not guilty on a second count of possession of devices and a charge of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline.

Immediate release not unusual

The prosecution objected to his release pending his appeal, but the military judge,Cmdr. Martin Pelletier, sided with defence lawyer David Hodson.

Immediate release once a notice of intention to appeal is filed is common in the military, according toHodson.

"Very often both the defence and the prosecution recognize that there is this right, this regulation, and just concede they're released under the circumstances," he said.

"That's one of the benefits of the military criminal justice system. In the civilian criminal justice system, very often it's a long protracted process to seek bail pending appeal. It can take weeks, if not months sometimes."

Once a case goes to the court martial appeal court, Hodson said it could take months or even a year to be heard.

He believes McGregor's appeal, which deals with international law issues, could ultimately go all the way to the country's highest court.

"There may be a gap in the legislation, certainly a charter controversy, and that needs to be explored and clarified and possibly by the Supreme Court of Canada at some point in the future."

Will argue diplomatic immunity

McGregorwill be represented by a different lawyer on appeal, but Hodson contends McGregorwas essentially a diplomatin Washington and that his home would have been protected from search and seizure through diplomatic immunity.

But theCanadian Forces National Investigation Service,working in collaboration with local police, were able to secure an American search warrant to search his residenceafter the Washington-based victim discovered a recording device at her home.

Investigators found a video of an alleged sexual assaultin Esquimalt in 2011,officials previously said. "A number of computers, hard drives, computer equipmentand other media storage devices" were seized.

McGregor wascharged in May 2017 andrepatriatedtothe 5thCanadian Division Support Base Gagetown in Oromocto, N.B. Heretired from the military four months later.

Hodson said the 28-month delaybetween the charges being laid and the trial and sentencing will also form part of his appeal.

McGregor joined theArmed Forces as a regular memberof the Canadian Armyin July 2003 and served onvarious bases over the years, including Kingstonand Borden, Ont.

He has also deployed on three missions:Bahrain in 2006,Afghanistan in 2011, and Kuwait in 2014.