Jason Tress (left) and defence lawyer Robb Beeman are shown leaving the Red Deer Courthouse on Sept. 24, 2019 (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Troy Gillard

COURT

Conditional sentence for former Red Deer Mountie guilty of breach of trust

Jan 7, 2020 | 6:54 PM

A former Red Deer RCMP officer found guilty of breach of trust has been handed a conditional sentence that includes house arrest and community service.

Justice David Gates delivered his sentence Tuesday afternoon in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench after convicting Jason Tress in September on a count of breach of trust, while acquitting him of sexual assault with a weapon.

The conditional sentence is for six months and includes 24-hour house arrest for the first 45 days followed by a curfew from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. for the remainder. However, Tress will be able to continue working at his current job in the oil patch while serving his sentence.

Tress, who is 33, was convicted for an incident that occurred during the early morning hours of May 1, 2016.

While responding to a 911 call for a domestic dispute at a Red Deer apartment, Tress took a female witness into a bedroom and closed the door. While talking with her, Tress told the young woman, who was 19 at the time, that she had nice breasts and asked whether they were real or fake.

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After making the comments, Tress stood in front of the bedroom for a period of time before allowing the woman to leave. At no point did he ask to touch the woman or many any move to do so.

Gates determined that in addition to his actions, which he previously described as being “somewhat predatory in nature,” Tress tried to cover it up by dropping the investigation into the domestic dispute, and by not taking notes while at the apartment.

Tress told court on Monday that he regrets that his actions have brought shame to himself, his family and his former RCMP colleagues. He also said that he hoped his actions will not deter the victim from going to police in the future regarding domestic violence issues.

Gates expressed doubt over whether Tress was sincere with his regret, but also gave him some words of encouragement moving forward.

“You will recover. You will get over this,” he told Tress.

“I hope in time this experience will be recalled as something that led you to turn things around and to make some changes in your life that will make you a productive, better man, better husband, better father.”

Gates said he was saddened that Tress has lost his dream of being a police officer, but that he has plenty of time left to get his life together and find new dreams.

“There’s no reason in the world why your life has to be defined by this event,” Gates concluded. “Don’t live a life of shame.”

Tress was placed on paid leave immediately following the incident before being suspended with pay later that year and put on leave without pay in 2017. He resigned from the RCMP last fall.

He continues to receive counselling for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which he was diagnosed with in July 2016 following a series of work events including a police-involved shooting in downtown Red Deer.

Last June, Tress was found not guilty of sexual assault and breach of trust in relation to an incident from July 1, 2016 in Red Deer.

He has a trial scheduled for May 4-7, 2020 in Red Deer on a count of sexual assault in relation to an incident that occurred in 2012.