Police constable who sought 'sexual gratification' from victims he met on duty awaits sentencing

An Edmonton police constable has admitted to using his position of power to prey on women he met on duty for his "own sexual gratification."

Edmonton Police Service Const. Hunter Robinz pleaded guilty to one count of breach of trust in Court of King's Bench on Oct 21. He is awaiting sentencing and is due back in court on Friday. 

Robinz admitted to multiple breaches of trust through his on-duty contact with eight women, spanning from March 2017 to June 2019.

Court heard that he exhibited a pattern of predatory behaviour — repeatedly making inappropriate sexual advances on victims of crime or complainants he met through his work.

An agreed statement of facts filed with the court details Robinz's misconduct against eight victims. Their names are protected by a publication ban.

The charges were laid by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), which began investigating a sexual assault accusation against Robinz in August 2019.

He was arrested in 2021 after the watchdog investigation found evidence that he had committed multiple breaches of trust, including repeated searches of secure policing databases for names and addresses unrelated to his duties as a police officer.

Three other charges against Robinz — sexual assault, unauthorized use of a computer database, and a second count of breach of trust — were stayed by the Crown.

Unwelcome encounter

The ASIRT investigation began following an encounter between Robinz and a 24-year-old woman who alleged she was attacked by Robinz after he entered her home uninvited, while in uniform and on duty.

The unwelcome sexual advances happened on the night of June 29, 2019. 

The woman had been intoxicated and in a state of distress following a night at the bar when she called police from a public park.

Robinz and another officer responded to the call and drove her home, stopping on the way to pick up keys to the woman's Edmonton apartment from her roommates who were on shift at a McDonald's restaurant. 

Robinz returned to the woman's home later that evening, using the roommate's keys to enter the apartment. The woman recalled crying as Robinz put his hands on her waist and kept trying to kiss her. 

He kissed her several times as she pushed him away and yelled at him. Eventually, he let her go upstairs to use the washroom and when she came out, he was halfway up the stairs. 

He tried to kiss her again and she asked if he needed a warrant to be in her house. She told him 'no,' and she again had to push him away, court heard. She pleaded with him to leave, asking him to go more than 20 times before he finally left. 

"She stated that she felt lucky that she was not 'blackout drunk' because she was able to say 'no' and was able to push him away and he finally left," an agreed statement of facts reads. 

Early the next morning, the woman received a series of sexually explicit text messages from Robinz on social media, through his Facebook account, Ranger Sparrow.

The following month, she reported the assault to ASIRT and the agency's investigation against Robinz began. Robinz was moved off his patrol job to administrative duties.

His police-issue phone was seized. Investigators uncovered a series of messages which revealed that Robinz had sought sexual encounters with multiple victims of crime.

In March 2017, he sent explicit text messages to the sister of a woman who he had been called to help after she became suicidal.

In May 2018, he was called to help a woman in response to a suspicious person in her backyard. She reported Robinz to the EPS Public Standards Branch days later for sending her an unsolicited and inappropriate text message. 

The woman was concerned that Robinz had contacted her via the social media platform Snapchat in a way that suggested he had accessed her personal information.

In October 2018, Robinz responded to a domestic violence call about a man breaching his court orders and contacting his ex-partner. Robinz soon entered into a relationship with the domestic violence victim.

The woman informed investigators of the relationship with Robinz after her ex again broke his court orders and sexually assaulted her.

The EPS Professional Standards Branch investigated the relationship but Robinz lied about having met the woman in his capacity as a police officer, according to the agreed statement of facts.

The other victims include the victim in an attempted break and enter case and a domestic violence victim who had been assaulted at the Edmonton Inn. After she called the police for help, Robinz was assigned as the lead investigator in her case.

All the offences occurred while Robinz was on active duty.

Robinz admitted to using his position in public office for a purpose other than the public good, mainly for his own sexual gratification.- Agreed statement of facts

"Robinz admitted to using his position in public office for a purpose other than the public good, mainly for his own sexual gratification," the agreed statement of facts says.

During a court appearance last week, Staff Sgt. Harry Grewal, head of the EPS sexual assault section, commented on the impact of Robinz's misconduct. 

Grewal described Robinz's actions as egregious. He said the constable's behaviour had a profound impact on the victims and eroded public confidence in the police.

Robinz victimized already vulnerable individuals and undermined trust in law enforcement, Grewal wrote.  

"Every day, our officers encounter people amid some of the worst moments of their lives. All are in states of vulnerability, some significantly so," Grewal wrote. 

"The trust we are afforded by the community in these moments is significant and in turn, so too must be our commitment to honour it." 

Robinz remains an EPS member but has been suspended without pay since March 2021 after he was charged by Parkland RCMP with assault and unsafe storage of a firearm during an alleged attack on his common-law wife.

He was convicted of careless use or storage of a firearm for storing a carbine rifle and two magazines with live ammunition in an unlocked case in his bedroom closet, but was acquitted of the assault.

The maximum sentence for breach of trust is 14 years in prison. Sentencing deliberations are expected to continue on Friday.