A Wasaga Beach OPP officer wept in court late last night as a jury found her guilty of breach of trust, but not guilty of obstruction of justice.
"'It's very disheartening," said Const. Kara Darnley as she stood outside of court with her mother and father. "This has been going on for four years."
Darnley was charged with obstruction of justice and breach of trust in charges stemming from incidents in 2012 where she copied documents that stated her fiance''s friends were under surveillance for drug trafficking, then told him about it.
Unknown to Darnley, the documents were fake and deliberately planted near a hidden camera in the police office where she would find them.
The scheme, which police called an 'integrity play' involved 680 hours of undercover surveillance with 480 hours of wire taps on Darnley to test her mettle as a police officer.
Throughout the sting, a female undercover officer was hired to befriend Darnley and pretended to keep watch while Darnley looked through the bogus documents.
Her lawyer, Angela McLeod, said she is disappointed and plans to argue her client was tricked and will ask a judge to stay the charge at an entrapment hearing.
"We will be asking the judge to find that the undercover officer lured her into committing a breach of trust," McLeod said.
"We stand by our daughter one hundred percent," said Darnley's mom and dad who have sat through the entire trial. "We are very proud of her for stand up and fighting against these charges."
Darnley still faces charges under the police act from the same incidents.
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'I LOVE BEING A POLICE OFFICER'
She was once dubbed “Canada’s Hot Cop” but OPP Const. Kara Darnley got a major cooling off this month after her employers charged her with breach of trust and obstruction of justice in an unrelated incident.
On Wednesday night, a Barrie jury found Darnley not guilty of obstruction of justice but guilty of breach of trust in charges laid by her employer.
Darnley’s experience as the hot cop on a comedic competitive TV show called Wipeout Canada in 2010 was an experience of a lifetime, she says.
“It was a blast,” says the svelte blond who is also trained as a personal trainer and nutrition expert.
She was still a rookie cop when she applied for the show and got the OK from her commander at the Wasaga Beach detachment. From then on it was a whirlwind of fun.
Out of 78,000 Canadian applicants, Darnley was one of 120 selected for the series.
"They selected us for our ability to be fun and hold a character," she said. “The fantastic part is they flew us all out to Argentina do the show."
Although the competition is designed to make viewers laugh and guffaw, the test was grueling, with obstacle courses that dangled over water, including a Tarzan swing, leap pads and a punching wall, where you actually do get punched.
There is no practice time, and Darnley didn’t even know she was supposed to be the ‘hot cop’ until show time.
As the show opens, Darnley wears handcuffs as she gyrates and dances for the camera.
“Prepare to be disciplined cause I’m gonna take you dowwwwwn town,” she says in a sing-song voice.
She made the top 12 in the obstacle course but Darnley was eliminated when it came to “the sweeper” – a long arm that swings past contestants as they try to jump over it and land on a platform 20-feet over water.
Looking back, Darnley says she has no regrets about participating in the show – although she’s not sure if her employer feels the same.
“It was a once in a lifetime experience," she said. “It was a week of fun and I met people from all across Canada.”
Two years later in completely unrelated circumstances, Darnley was under another test, when her superiors set up surveillance in what was called an “integrity play.” Her employer set up a camera with false information that her fiancé was hanging with friends who were drug dealers. Frightened, Darnley copied the information and told her fiancé about it, and was charged for dissemination the confidential police information.
Still facing muddy waters with her employer, Darnley is not sure what her future will be and remains on paid suspension.
“I loved being a police officer,” she said. “It’s what I always wanted to do. Only time will tell what comes next.”
http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2016/0 ... h-of-trust