Arborg Mountie breaches bail, faces new charges

EXPRESS FILE PHOTO BY AUSTIN GRABISH

By Austin Grabish, The Express Weekly News

A 26-year veteran member of the RCMP who is accused of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old child is now facing a slew of other charges and was re-arrested after being released on a promise to appear late last year.

Court documents obtained by the Express last week show Robert Dowd, 55, is now facing eight counts of weapons related charges in addition to a charge of failing to comply with a no-contact order.

Dowd was charged with breaching his undertaking after he allegedly contacted witnesses through email, Brandon Police said in a news release last week.

Court documents allege Dowd contacted the witnesses on Dec. 26 last year.

Dowd was under a no-contact order after he was charged last September with sexual assault and sexual interference in relation to an alleged incident that took place in the Ashern area.

None of the charges against Dowd have been proven in court and he is presumed innocent.

The news release from Brandon Police made no mention of the eight counts of weapons charges Dowd is also facing, but the Express learned about them last week when it obtained court records relating to Dowd.

The court documents show Dowd was charged on Nov. 13 with failing to comply with an order to not possess a weapon.

He also faces four charges of unauthorized possession of a firearm and three charges of unsafe storage of a restricted firearm.

Court records obtained by the Express earlier this year show Dowd is recently divorced, a father of two, and the owner of a former Arborg lawn cutting business.

Dowd is a longtime member of the RCMP and specializes in forensic crash reconstruction, court records show.  

In 2012 he was hired to serve as an expert witness by an American insurance company.

Dowd is also a published author and has lived in Arborg since 1989.

Brandon Police arrested Dowd in Winnipeg with the assistance of the RCMP. He was remanded in custody at the Winnipeg Remand Centre and appeared in a Winnipeg courtroom on Jan. 15^th.

Dowd was later released and was not in custody as of Monday afternoon, a Manitoba Justice official said.

RCMP spokesman Paul Human said Dowd has been suspended from the police force with pay.

His next court appearance is in Peguis on Feb. 9. 

-- First published in the Express Weekly News print edition January 22, 2015 p.5

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