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2 Yukon Mounties acquitted of sexual assault

Last Updated: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 | 5:34 PM CT

The Canadian Press
Lawyer Rob Warren, left, his client Shawn McLaughlin, centre, and co-accused Graham Belak leave the Whitehorse courthouse. Lawyer Rob Warren, left, his client Shawn McLaughlin, centre, and co-accused Graham Belak leave the Whitehorse courthouse. (CBC)

Two RCMP officers were acquitted Tuesday of sexually assaulting a woman in the Yukon town of Watson Lake.

Constables Graham Belak and Shawn Mclaughlin were accused of raping the woman after a house party last March.

In clearing the officers, Justice Leigh Gower of the Yukon Supreme Court in Whitehorse questioned the woman's credibility, saying her testimony was inconsistent and unreliable.

Gower said the Mounties' stories were believable, and DNA evidence backed them up. The officers testified the woman was sexually aggressive and not too drunk to know what she was doing. The three-way sex they had was consensual, they said.

After the verdict, Belak hugged his tearful mother and shook Mclaughlin's hand, but both men left the courthouse without speaking to reporters.

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