A former Abbotsford minor hockey player alleging he was sexually assaulted by a Mountie acting as a coach has won a bid to have Abbotsford Police records released for his civil suit.

Robert Callan, of Calgary, claims he was sexually assaulted repeatedly from 1982 to 1984 while playing on a triple-A midget hockey team in Abbotsford while Donald Cooke was an RCMP officer and an assistant coach.

Callan launched a civil suit in the summer of 2011 against Cooke, The Abbotsford Minor Hockey Association and the RCMP and Attorney General of Canada.

On Thursday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice David Masuhara ordered the Abbotsford Police Department to release the documents related to their investigation on Cooke.

Callan's suit asserts Cooke's status as a coach gave him the authority and command to groom, intimidate, influence or compel him into submission with regards to the alleged assaults, according to Thursday's written decision.

No criminal charges have been laid against Cooke, who is on leave from the RCMP.

The APD investigation dealt with Cooke's conduct in the early 1980s and included interviews with RCMP officers who'd served with him and other individuals who alleged sexual assaults by the Mountie. Cooke's lawyer argued the APD files could contain "irrelevant and embarrassing information" concerning Cooke's homosexuality, reflect the prevailing attitudes of that time period and would allow the plaintiff to "tailor the evidence".

Masuhara disagreed, stating the information sought may not favour Callan's suit, and the "information in the police file likely contains very relevant information for one or more of the parties."

The Abbotsford Minor Hockey Association's lawyer also argued for full disclosure of the APD files in Callan's suit as the identities of other complainants are relevant to its defence.

Additionally, given the alleged assaults took place in the early '80s, no one presently working with the association has knowledge of what happened during that time period.

Masuhara also issued a publication ban to protect the identity of any of the other alleged victims identified in the APD files.

Cooke, in turn, filed a lawsuit against the RCMP in 2010, claiming he was never charged with a crime, but the force mistreated him after the sex-assault allegations because of a homophobic culture within the ranks.

RBaker@abbotsfordtimes.ca