Port Coquitlam city managers are seeking legal advice after one of its parks workers was convicted today (Wednesday) of sexual assault.
David Murray, who is also a Pitt Meadows city councillor, will be back before PoCo provincial court Judge Deirdre Pothecary on Jan. 10, 2018, to fix a date for sentencing.
Last November, Murray was charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference with a person under the age of 14 for an offence alleged to have happened in 1992 at a PoCo business where he was the accuser's boss.
Murray denied the allegations made by a former employee, who cannot be identified under a court publication order; she reported the offence to RCMP in 2015.
Dan McLaughlin, communications counsel for the BC Prosecution Service, told The Tri-City News that the sexual interference charge was previously stayed by the Crown.
"As the matter is still before the court, the BC Prosecution Service will not be commenting further on the circumstances of the offence, the offender or the position it will be taking in any future related proceedings," he said in an email.
Pardeep Purewal, the city of PoCo's communications manager, said Murray has been on paid leave since Oct. 2.
He took a temporary leave last December and returned to work in February of this year "and, as a precaution, was assigned to a variety of non-public facing duties at the public works yard (i.e., garbage and recycling cart maintenance, works yard clean up, equipment clean up/maintenance, vegetation and grounds maintenance) where he continued to work until Oct. 2," she said in an emailed statement.
Purewal said Murray has worked for PoCo's parks department since 2001. He has also served on the executive committees of the Pitt Meadows Soccer Club and the Ridge Meadows Minor Baseball Association, and has coached high school basketball for more than 30 years, including at PoCo's Terry Fox secondary school.
Kristen Dixon, PoCo's acting chief administrative officer, said in a statement the municipality is now "seeking legal advice on our options related to his employment."
Murray was elected to Pitt Meadows council in 2011.
Carolyn Baldridge, Pitt Meadows' communications manager, confirmed the city was aware of the conviction, adding, "We are in the process of gathering more facts and will have more information about what this means for our council in the coming days. Beyond that, I have nothing further to share."
The maximum sentence for sexual assault is 10 years in jail.
