9 year veteran of VPD, Fired 4 Child Porn

2nd ex-cop faces child-porn probe Prosecutors study report from Vancouver police department on allegations involving nine-year veteran’s home computer

Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun Published: Friday, November 10, 2006

Another former Vancouver police officer is under investigation for possession of child pornography, The Vancouver Sun has learned. The man, who resigned from the force in July, has been under criminal investigation by the RCMP’s Integrated Child Exploitation unit since January after an allegation surfaced that he had child pornography on his home computer.

The man’s name has not been released by Vancouver police, but The Sun has learned he is Tristan Johnson, 35, a nine-year member of the force.

In an interview Thursday, Insp. Rollie Woods, head of the Vancouver police professional standards unit, said the RCMP recently sent a report on the case to Crown prosecutors, who are deciding whether or not to lay charges. “Last I heard, it was still before Crown,” said Woods. Neither Johnson nor his lawyer could be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

Earlier this year Vancouver police Sgt. John Dragani — who has since retired — was charged with possession of child pornography after allegations surfaced in 2005 that he had child porn on his home computer.

Woods said there is no connection between the two cases. Johnson was charged earlier this year with one count of uttering threats while off-duty. The charge was dropped after Johnson agreed to sign a peace bond. About the same time, said Woods, Vancouver police received an unrelated tip that Johnson was accessing child pornography at his home.

Because Johnson lives in Surrey the information was passed on to the RCMP and Vancouver police launched an internal code-of-conduct investigation of their own. The standard of proof in disciplinary investigations is lower than in a criminal trial, where facts must be proven “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Instead, guilt or innocence is determined based on a “balance of probabilities” — meaning it is more likely an officer committed an offence than not.

Woods said Johnson was suspended in March and, in July, the force determined that it had enough evidence of child pornography possession to fire him. “We were able to obtain enough information from the RCMP to substantiate the disciplinary default under the Police Act,” said Woods. “We were satisfied that we were going to be seeking his termination.” Woods said a meeting was held with Johnson to advise him that the force would be seeking his dismissal, at which point he decided to resign. Woods said Johnson’s office computer was searched for child pornography and none was found.

cskelton@png.canwest.com © The Vancouver Sun 2006