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September 27, 2017 - 11:54 AM
KAMLOOPS - The admission to police made more than three years ago by a former sports coach and auxiliary RCMP officer in Clearwater will be admissible at his trial.
A hearing to determine whether or not Alan Davidson's statement, in which he admitted to some instances of sexually touching minors in the 1970s, was voluntary has concluded after more than eight hours of interrogation footage was shown in Kamloops Supreme Court.
Justice Sheri Donegan said in her decision today, Sept. 27, that Crown had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Davidson's statement was voluntary.
"I have determined that the Crown has met its burden," Donegan said. "(The statement) is admissible in this trial."
The videotaped confession took place hours after Davidson's arrest on March 6, 2014. He's standing trial in Kamloops Supreme Court on seven charges of indecent assault dating back to alleged incidents from the late 1970s.
The decision on Davidson's statement came after a days-long voir dire hearing to determine the admissibility of evidence in the main trial.
Because a decision on the voluntariness of Davidson's statement needed to be made before the trial proceeded, Donegan didn't go into details of her decision but said her reasons would be coming at a later point.
In the videotaped statement, Davidson acknowledged some incidents of sexual touching between him and certain minors. He also looked into the camera and personally apologized to the complainants in the case.
Although the confession was ruled admissible, the allegations against Davidson have not been proven in court.
The trial is expected to resume this afternoon.
Davidson became an RCMP officer in February 1982 and was posted in Saskatchewan. He's facing similar charges in that province but has yet to go to trial.
For more coverage on this trial, go here.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017