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A retired RCMP officer who had sex with his teenage neighbour while his wife and children were at church has been ordered to pay $800,000 for the sexual exploitation that dates back more than 40 years.

According to a July 10 BC Supreme Court decision, former RCMP officer William Pound was in his early 30s when he befriended the teenager who lived a few doors away in Campbell River sometime in the late 1970s.

The victim, who iNFOnews.ca has chosen not to identify, is now in her early 60s. She used to babysit for Pound's two children.

Pound told her she was pretty and said he'd been thinking about her. To a shy and awkward 15-year-old, who was bullied and didn't have many friends, or get any attention from boys, it meant a lot, she said.

They kissed when she was 15 years old, and first had sex just after her 16th birthday.

"(The victim) testified that almost all the sexual encounters she had with Mr. Pound took place in his bedroom, on Sunday mornings, while Mrs. Pound and the two children were at church," the decision reads.

Pound told the teen about his work as an RCMP officer and how he was unhappy with his wife.

"(She) interpreted this to mean that there was a romantic future for her and Mr. Pound and this made her very happy. At 16, she believed herself to be in love with Mr. Pound and she wanted them to have a future together," Justice Amy Francis said in the decision.

She told her friends about the relationship, who were strongly opposed.

"She considered herself to be in love with Mr. Pound and it disappointed her that her friends didn’t support this," the decision reads.

"She was very clearly an infatuated and immature youth who believed herself to be in an adult relationship. Mr. Pound did nothing to dissuade Ms. Wells’ unrealistic beliefs about their relationship," the Justice said.

She graduated from high school in 1982 and went to a local college, and the relationship continued. The following year, she went to university in Victoria but came home at the weekends, and continued to see Pound.

Her parents moved away and sold the family home in Campbell River and she stopped seeing Pound.

In 1986, Pound called her to say he was in Victoria with work, they met up and had sex. It was the last time she saw him until the trial began earlier this year after she sued him for sexual exploitation.

Pound doesn't deny the relationship took place, but says they only had sex three times, and the first time was in 1984 when she was 20.

Justice Francis described him as a "challenging witness," saying some of his evidence was "utterly improbable."

He said he barely knew the victim or her family, but then knew multiple precise details about her life, down to the model of car she had when she was 16.

Pound referred to the lawsuit as "extortion," saying she needed a way to make money and the "Me Too" movement was the "opportunity."

Justice Francis saw it very differently.

"Mr. Pound worked his way into the life of a shy and socially unsophisticated 15-year-old girl, starting with compliments and escalating their interactions from flirtation, to physical contact, to sex. He gave (the complainant) alcohol, talked to her about problems in his marriage, and shared confidential information obtained through his position as an RCMP officer. All of these things would have made (the complainant) feel like an adult and encouraged her unrealistic belief that Mr. Pound was going to leave his wife and marry her. It is eminently clear that Mr. Pound exploited (the complainant’s) age, immaturity, and lack of sophistication for his own sexual gratification," the Justice said.

While the victim wanted to continue school and become a psychologist sometime in her early 20s she became an alcoholic.

"She was drinking before exams and before social interactions to relieve her anxiety. At a certain point, she needed to drink daily to manage stress," the decision reads.

For about a decade, she worked in group homes and schools for mentally challenged adults and drank while at work. Her life became completely derailed.

"(She) moved around between apartments and jobs, regularly finding herself in the emergency room because of severe intoxication or withdrawal; at times, she had to be intubated. She was arrested multiple times for drunk driving and other alcohol-related offences. She was involuntarily committed to psychiatric care at least once. She attempted suicide. Her medical records are replete with emergency room visits (approximately 52 between 2009 and 2012), the records of which demonstrate the painful toll of her addiction on her mental and physical health," the Justice said.

However, she'd been sober since 2013, got her master's degree in psychology and now has a rewarding career as a counsellor.

She testified she started drinking to "quell her anguish" about Pound.

Multiple experts testified in court about whether Pound's sexual exploitation led to her alcoholism. The defence argued she would have become an alcoholic regardless.

However, the Justice wasn't swayed.

"I think it is more likely than not that, but for sexual exploitation by Mr. Pound, (she) would not have developed alcohol use disorder," the Justice said. "This psychological pain is something she will likely live with for her entire life."

The Justice said Pound had a "callous" lack of regard for the victim.

"Not only does he deny responsibility for the damage he inflicted, but in the course of his testimony, he made gratuitous irrelevant statements, the only purpose of which could be to embarrass and humiliate (her)," the Justice said.

Ultimately, the Justice ruled Pound pay $50,000 in punitive damages and $200,000 in aggravated damages.

"To this date, Mr. Pound is willfully blind, and seemingly indifferent to the harms caused by his actions. He appears to view himself, rather than (the complainant), as the victim, and more than once described the lawsuit against him as 'extortion,'" the Justice said.

The Justice ruled that if it wasn't for the harm caused by Pound, the victim would likely have had a lengthy career as a psychologist and ordered him to pay $567,000 for the past income she would have earned.

In total, Pound was ordered to pay $817,000, for the sexual abuse he committed more than 40 years ago.

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