British ColumbiaLess than three weeks after he was demoted and suspended for sexually harassing five women, a disgraced former Vancouver Police officer admitted to sexual misconduct in sperate proceedings involving a former student whose name he later searched on a police database in violation of police rules.Keiron McConnell’s admitted misconduct was with former studentJason Proctor · CBC News · Posted: Sep 11, 2025 12:09 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours agoFormer Vancouver Police officer Keiron McConnell admitted to having sex with a former student while she was intoxicated and later looking her up in a police database. He was suspended for 10 days. The woman had told police he’d assaulted her, but after an investigation no criminal charges were recommended. (Facebook)Less than three weeks after he was punished last May for sexually harassing five women, a disgraced former Vancouver Police officer admitted to sexual misconduct involving another woman whose name he later searched on a police database in violation of police rules.The stunning new revelations against former sergeant Keiron McConnell were made public by B.C. Police Complaint Commissioner Prabhu Rajan Wednesday as he announced plans to review the 10-day suspension the now-retired officer received at the previously undisclosed proceeding.Rajan detailed a criminal investigation and an entirely separate set of Police Act proceedings that played out — unbeknownst to the public — even as McConnell admitted at an open hearing last spring to sending unwelcome sexualized messages to former colleagues and students.Admitted misconduct ‘serious’According to Rajan, just over two weeks after the public hearing closed, McConnell reached a deal that saw him admit at the closed-door hearing to having sex with a former student hours after meeting her at a club in 2005 while he was in uniform.The woman involved had claimed he’d sexually assaulted her; however, after an investigation, police did not recommend charges over the incident.In exchange for a 10-day suspension, he also admitted to exchanging inappropriate messages with the woman in the years that followed — and then querying her name in a police database in May 2023, “without documenting the reason for the query.” Keiron McConnell is seen while he was on duty as a VPD officer on Granville Street. The former VPD officer admitted to meeting a former student at a bar while he was in uniform and later having sex with her while she was intoxicated. (CBC)The deal was the result of a joint submission from McConnell and a discipline representative named by the Metro Vancouver Transit Authority inspector appointed to act as an external disciplinary authority.Rajan says a review of the deal is necessary to ensure McConnell’s punishment is “commensurate with the seriousness of the admitted misconduct and its impacts.””The admitted misconduct in this case is serious in nature and is likely to have caused the former student physical, emotional, or psychological harm, and to have violated her dignity,” Rajan said in a statement.”The public’s confidence in police and the disciplinary process is likely to be undermined without an independent review.” The police complaint commissioner said he believes the punishment “does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the admitted misconduct in this case” or the decision from the public hearing, which also involved three former university students taught by McConnell.Unwanted sexualized messagesMcConnell — who first joined the VPD reserves in 1988 — was promoted to sergeant in 2004, becoming part of the leadership of the VPD’s gang squad while also earning a doctorate that saw him teach at Royal Roads, Kwantlen and Simon Fraser universities.He retired in July after his demotion to constable and a 20-day suspension for the case the public was aware of, which concerned incidents that took place between 2015 and 2019.According to an agreed statement of facts entered in that proceeding, McConnell admitted to sending unwanted sexualized messages to two female officers who worked under his command when he was one of the leaders of the gang squad.”The content included sexual remarks about her underwear, her sexual preferences and his sexual fantasies,” the statement reads in relation to one of the officers.”McConnell’s comments caused [her] to feel degraded, and she suffered anxiety as a result. She was concerned about raising the issue with him because of his position in the VPD.”Similar concerns were echoed by the three adult students targeted by McConnell — two of whom had taken courses with him prior to the incidents that led to complaints.A deal with no witnessesAccording to Rajan, the woman in the other case contacted the VPD in October 2022 about an incident dating back to January 2005.The woman told police she believed McConnell “had sexually assaulted her in her hotel room when she was intoxicated and after she encountered him at a Vancouver nightclub while he was on duty as a VPD Sergeant.”Keiron McConnell is seen in an interview with CBC News. The Vancouver police officer now faces a paper review of a previously unreported disciplinary hearing that saw him suspended for 10 days. (CBC)The VPD told the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner and also reported the allegations to the RCMP, who closed a separate criminal investigation in August 2023 without forwarding any proposed charges to the Crown.The disciplinary proceeding arising from that complaint happened on May 23 and was governed by the rules of the Police Act.Many of the women who showed up to watch McConnell’s other public hearing have complained that this type of proceeding turns victims into mere bystanders.No witnesses were called for the proceeding in May.Instead, McConnell and the discipline representative put forward a joint submission in which he admitted to discreditable conduct for meeting the former student in a bar while he was on duty and having sex with her after his shift “knowing she was under the influence of alcohol.”He also admitted to exchanging messages of a sexual nature with the woman between 2005 and 2021 before conducting the undocumented search of her name in 2023 — a neglect of duty.Rajan has appointed former provincial court chief judge Carole Baird Ellan — who also oversaw the public hearing — to perform a “paper review” of all the evidence and materials from the second investigation and discipline hearing.”The full range of disciplinary and corrective measures, up to and including dismissal, should be independently considered given the former member’s admission of misconduct coupled with previous admissions of sexualized discreditable conduct,” Rajan said.Rajan said Baird Ellan is “best placed to conduct this review given that McConnell and the discipline representative connected this case with the public hearing.”If Baird Ellan comes up with a different conclusion on discipline, the result would be recorded on McConnell’s service record of discipline, despite his retirement.ABOUT THE AUTHORJason Proctor is a reporter in British Columbia for CBC News and has covered the B.C. courts and the justice system extensively.
New sexual misconduct allegations emerge against disgraced former Vancouver police officer
