Two more municipal jail guards have been implicated and disciplined in the viewing of a sexual encounter between two women in a B.C. RCMP holding cell via closed-circuit video.
Randy Diehl, chief administrator for the City of Kamloops, told ctvbc.ca that a municipal investigation has revealed that an additional two male guards played a "fairly minor role" in the Aug. 18 incident, although neither was in the room while the video was being watched. Police say that the two men are not under criminal investigation and will not face charges.
Another two guards and a watch clerk -- all men -- are suspected of actually watching the video alongside four male Mounties for seven minutes without intervening. The four police officers have all been suspended without pay.
Diehl said that the city wrapped up its investigation into the incident on Tuesday, and all five men will be disciplined. The punishments range from letters scolding the employees for their behaviour to disciplinary notes to suspension from duty with pay.
"I believe that the actions to be taken are totally appropriate given the context. They are, in some cases, quite severe," Diehl said.
But he also noted that all of the municipal employees involved in the incident were in subordinate positions and their behaviour did not justify firing.
"None of these people were in the position to walk down the hall, open the door, and stop the event from taking place," he said.
He would not give details on how many of the employees were suspended without pay, or for how long, but said that the suspensions are for "a matter of weeks."
Earlier this month, one of the municipal guards and the watch clerk were allowed to return to work after being temporarily suspended with pay. Diehl said that confidentiality concerns prevented him from revealing if either of those men has since been re-suspended.
Last week, police investigators wrapped up their probe of the incident and forwarded a report to the provincial attorney general to consider charges.
Diehl said that the city has not been informed of the content of that report, and more severe punishments will be in order if any of the employees are convicted of a criminal offence.
"If the criminal investigation indicates that we need to take stronger action than we have, we will take further action," he said.
According to police, the two women at the centre of the scandal were arrested separately on suspicion of being drunk in public and causing a disturbance.
Some media outlets have reported that one of the women involved is HIV-positive and did not inform the second woman, but police say they will not comment on those reports because of privacy concerns.
In September, the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP announced that it will hold a public inquiry into the jailhouse scandal.
