FILE PHOTO.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

A Kelowna Mountie who was charged with obstructing justice after he requested the victim in a domestic abuse case to delete sexually explicit texts he'd sent her has likely clocked up more than $500,000 in pay since being suspended.

Kelowna RCMP Const. Sean Eckland was suspended in December 2019 with pay after allegations emerged that he'd sent graphic and sexually explicit text messages from his personal cell phone to the victim.

The officer was later charged with two counts of obstructing justice and pleaded guilty to one of the charges earlier this year.

Const. Eckland was scheduled to be in a Kelowna courtroom Nov. 8 to be sentenced, but Thursday, Nov. 7, he had the sentencing adjourned. A new date for the sentencing will be set next week.

Outside of his criminal conviction, Eckland is also facing an internal RCMP Conduct Board hearing, which could result in him being fired. The hearing was supposed to take place in November 2023 but was rescheduled for March. However, that was then cancelled and no new date has yet been set. The RCMP offered no explanation as to why a new date had yet to be determined.

It's hard to know how much pay Eckland has received since being suspended almost five years ago, but an RCMP officer's salary after three years service is $115,350.

The delays have likely put the taxpayer on the hook $575,000 and counting.

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Const. Eckland's problems began in April 2018 when he was investigating Lake Country resident Lonnie Noel Smith who had brutally assaulted his girlfriend.

Very drunk and high on cocaine Smith attacked his girlfriend multiple times over the course of a night, breaking her nose, kicking her and choking her until she was unconscious.

She spent eight days in hospital after the attack and was left with permanent physical effects from the beating. Smith was ultimately sentenced to two and a half years in jail.

It's not known exactly what took place between Eckland and the victim but he's alleged to have sent sexually explicit text messages to her.

Global News reported that the texts allegedly included messages from Eckland to the victim suggesting they have sex in the courthouse bathroom on the day they were both slated to testify against Smith.

READ MORE: North Okanagan man sent to prison for revenge porn uploads

In December 2019 — a year and a half after he was sent to investigate the incident — Eckland was suspended with pay.

More than one year later he was criminally charged.

One of the charges said that between April 2018 and December 2019, he attempted to "obstruct, pervert, or defeat the course of justice" by counselling the victim to destroy relevant evidence.

He didn't plead guilty to this charge but in January pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by failing to disclose relevant evidence.

Whether Const. Eckland will ever work as a police officer again remains to be seen, and he may well be fired depending on the outcome of the conduct hearing.

But until that hearing, Const. Eckland will remain at home not working, but still bring in more than $100,000 a year.

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