A former B.C. RCMP sergeant has been given a conditional discharge and a year’s probation after pleading guilty to assaulting a woman he met online.
In her March 6 decision, Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Provincial Court Judge Nancy Adams said Stanley You Won Lee had met the woman on the sugardaddy.com dating site.
When the woman moved to Vancouver, they began an intimate relationship.
He gave her a fictitious name, told her he was single and that he worked in finance.
He was, in fact, married with two children.
“He kept this fact hidden from the complainant,” Adams said.
The two met on May 29, 2022 when he brought up the fact he had found another online profile she had.
She took out her phone to call 911.
Adams said Lee grabbed her wrist and held her down to get the phone. She tried to leave and he stopped her.
Ultimately, she chased him down outside and retrieved her phone.
Adams said in another incident the complainant told police about, Lee put his hands on her neck and told her she had to be obedient or she would be punished.
The judge said Lee later told the woman it was part of a rape fantasy.
In a victim impact statement given to the court, the woman said that she only knew Lee in Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»and that she was vulnerable. She said Lee had held a mask up to her and hid his true nature.
The victim called the events “harrowing” with ongoing impacts.
“She has been emotionally devastated by the betrayal,” Adams said.
The court heard Lee has had post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues for which he has been receiving treatment.
Adams expressed skepticism about a pre-sentencing report done by a psychiatrist with Lee being the only person being spoken to for that report. She questioned why the Crown had not challenged that report, and that Lee’s own psychologist was unaware of the symptoms reported.
The judge wondered how Lee could have operated with mental illness for several years.
“It appears his primary goal was to ensure his career did not suffer,” Adams said, noting he “he has shown genuine contrition.”
Lee has been discharged from the RCMP. He was initially suspended with pay.
The judge said Lee has apologized to the complainant through his lawyer David Butcher.
Lee was also charged with a second count of assault, assault by choking, uttering threats, theft of $5,000 or under, breach of trust by a public officer and unauthorized use of a computer.
The investigation was done by the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Police Department.
Crown prosecutor Matthew Cullen stayed those charges.
Lee was charged in April 2023.
The sentence includes an 11 p.m. – 6 a.m. curfew and suggestions he have counselling for mental illness and intimate partner violence at the discretion of his probation officer.
