Former RCMP employee alleging sexual assault tells court she has PTSD

FILE: RCMP E Division headquarters in Surrey, B.C. (Photo: waferboard/Flickr, CC BY 2.0.)

VANCOUVER—A former RCMP employee who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a now-retired inspector in a locked washroom at their Vancouver workplace says she’s been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The complainant told provincial court today she was diagnosed with PTSD after she left her civilian job with the RCMP.

Tim Shields, who was the public face of the RCMP as the department’s spokesman in British Columbia, has pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual assault.

Court has heard the woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was allegedly sexually assaulted in the fall of 2009.

The woman says she suffers from nightmares, pain in her hips, neck, back and knees, and has difficulty concentrating.

Shields left the RCMP in December 2015 and was charged in May 2016.