A B.C. Supreme Court jury is now deliberating the case of a Richmond RCMP officer charged with exposing his genitals to students at all-girls schools while driving through Vancouver’s Shaughnessy neighbourhood in early 2019.
Andrew James Seangio, 37, is on trial in B.C. Supreme Court facing a 10-count indictment that includes three counts of exposing his genitals to people under 16 for a sexual purpose. The remaining seven counts involve allegations of committing an indecent act in public.
Crown prosecutor Geoff Baragar told Glacier Media the allegations include two undercover officers dressed as students.
The events in question took place close to the all-girl private schools Little Flower Academy and York House School.
Before sending members to begin deliberations, Justice Catherine Wedge told the jury they alone are the triers of fact in the case but must follow her instructions as to the law. She stressed their deliberations must start with the presumption of innocence, that the Crown must have proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
"He adamantly denies having committed the offences as alleged," Wedge told the jury, adding their verdicts must be unanimous.
In his final submissions on July 5, Baragar told the court that while no one identified Seangio as the driver of the vehicle, the facts lead to the conclusion in multiple instances that he was driving the vehicle in question.
He said victims got partial or full licence plate numbers, that video cameras caught images of his car, that the sexual behaviour of the driver was the same in each instance and that the vehicle sped away when some victims or police officers attempted to see the driver.
The Crown said cellphone records put Seangio’s phone in the area of the incidents at the time they occurred just as video surveillance caught his vehicle.
Baragar said “it defies coincidence that another black SUV would be in the same area approaching schoolgirls in a similar manner.”
Baragar told the court police officers in an undercover operation saw similar behaviour from the SUV driver.
“Because it was a police officer, the investigation took on greater significance and given what was called project status,” Baragar said.
On March 7, 2019, police followed Seangio as he left the Richmond detachment heading for Vancouver.
An undercover officer on foot in the target area saw the surveilled vehicle. She partially identified the licence plate number as the SUV approached in the curb lane and slowed down.
Surveillance followed Seangio from the detachment all the way to his downtown residence.
Seangio’s lawyer Glen Orris told the court July 4 his client “has not been involved in any illegal act.”
Orris told the jury before Seangio was sworn to testify in his defence that his client was not picked out of photo lineups shown to complainants.
Once Seangio took the stand, Orris asked, “Have you ever exposed yourself or masturbated while in your car?”
“No, I have not,” Seangio said.
Seangio was employed with the Richmond RCMP detachment and also worked for military police reserves out of Richmond’s Colonel Sherman Armoury.
He said he drove to and from those places via Granville Street or Oak Street, occasionally detouring through Shaughnessy streets when traffic became heavy to save time in traffic or to take a call or a text on his phone.
He lived in downtown Vancouver at the time of the events. He confirmed he had a black Hyundai Santa Fe sport utility vehicle.
The identities of the complainants are covered by a publication ban.
There is no set time for the jury to deliberate.
