Calgary lawyer facing sexual assault, indecent act, harassment charges
CBC
A Calgary lawyer who represented women who were sexually harassed and abused by RCMP officers has been charged with sexual assault, public indecency and harassment, CBC News has learned.
Patrick Higgerty, 66, who also served in Alberta as a justice of the peace, has two upcoming trials scheduled for 2024.
"It's a complicated matter given his antecedents and will require a lot of prep and research," said Higgerty's lawyer Alain Hepner in a short statement.
The alleged sexual assaults took place in 2018 and 2019.
The criminal charges were laid in 2023, just months after his law firm fell into receivership amid allegations an employee misappropriated more than $400,000 from clients' trust funds.
Back in 2019, RCMP reached a $100-million settlement in a class action lawsuit involving women who, as civilian RCMP employees, experienced sexual harassment and assault.
During the time he was working on the case, Higgerty is accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was known to him.
Offence dates listed on court documents show the alleged assaults took place in 2018 and 2019.
Higgerty also faces two charges of committing an indecent act in public on those same dates.
A trial on those charges is set to take place in September.
But first, Higgerty will go on trial in July on charges of harassment.
Those charges are connected to allegations Higgerty stalked or harassed the same woman in 2022. A man is also listed in court documents as one of Higgerty's alleged victims. It's unclear what his connection is to Higgerty or the woman.
Currently, Higgerty is not allowed to practise law in the province, according to a Law Society of Alberta custodianship order.
The order is not connected to Higgerty's criminal charges but rather to the downfall of his law firm.
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