B.C. Mountie loses court appeal after coercive sexual relationship with jail guard

A British Columbia RCMP officer ordered to resign or be fired from the force in 2018 has lost an court appeal of a misconduct finding over a coercive sexual relationship with a jail guard. 

Sgt. William Turner was in charge of a jail cellblock in Surrey, B.C., and had began a sexual relationship with a woman who was employed by the city at the RCMP detachment in 2014. 

Turner and the woman had engaged in sexual activity while on duty, but the woman claimed a sexual encounter in a detachment stairwell in October 2014 was non-consensual, and Turner later was arrested but never charged.

An RCMP conduct proceeding found he’d committed discreditable conduct in 2018 and that he used his position of authority to coerce consent. But Turner appealed the decision first to the force’s conduct appeal adjudicator, then to Federal Court and later to the Federal Court of Appeal. 

A three-judge appellate panel dismissed Turner’s appeal last week, finding that the lower court made no error in tossing his bid to quash the disciplinary measures against him for discreditable conduct. 

The original decision from the conduct adjudicator says Turner’s disciplinary record “demonstrated history of poor decision-making” when it came to women he worked with, and that he used his position of authority to get sexual favours from a subordinate.

Turner’s Alberta-based lawyer did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. 

Turner’s appeals, seeking to be reinstated by the force, had focused on what he claimed were unreasonable delays in having the matter heard, findings of “aggravating factors,” and evidentiary and credibility issues.

The woman had testified that she and Turner began texting each other, and it turned sexual, with him requesting photos that she “later begged him to delete.” 

She testified that Turner was “very aggressive, animalistic, forceful, angry and intense,” and she “felt compelled to perform fellatio on the (Turner) due to the imbalance of power in the relationship.” 

“She complied with the (Turner’s) demands for oral sex because it made the remainder of her shift go easier because he did not berate her,” the conduct board decision said. 

The Federal Court of Appeal ruling said courts are limited in judicial reviews to ensure a decision is reasonable, and can’t “substitute its decision for that of the decision maker.”

“In essence, that is what the appellant asked the Federal Court, and now asks this court, to do. Neither court can,” the ruling said. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2026.