The mayor of Port Moody, B.C., says he is taking a leave of absence to clear his name after being charged with sexual assault.
Robert Vagramov said Thursday that preparing a defence will require his full attention as he fights the charge in court, so he has decided to take a leave of absence starting Friday.
"The allegation that has led to the charge that is out there is false and will be strongly challenged in court," he told a news conference.
"When the allegation surfaced during the election campaign last year, I was horrified and taken completely by surprise. Now the tale grew as it was being told, and I want to be absolutely clear this allegation is false. I intend on fighting it every step of the way including filing a suit for defamation for this continued attack on my character."
Vagramov said he has co-operated with the authorities during their investigation, adding that he has passed a polygraph test and provided the results to them.
"As someone who has been in contact with victims of sexual assault, I hope that this false accusation does not take away from validity of other cases and I am thankful to live in a place where the police take such claims extremely seriously," he said.
"I look forward to airing and clearing my name in court."
The B.C. Prosecution Service said in a statement Thursday it appointed lawyer Michael Klein as a special prosecutor in relation to an investigation of a sexual assault alleged to have occurred in Coquitlam in 2015.
The service said Klein approved the charge and Vagramov is to appear in Port Coquitlam provincial court on April 25.
Vagramov was 28 when he was elected mayor last fall after serving one term on council.
The Prosecution Service said Klein was appointed in December because it was considered in the public interest to do so. The appointment of a special prosecutor is intended to avoid any potential for real or perceived improper influence in the administration of justice.
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I live in Port Moody. I
I live in Port Moody. I watched what the previous mayor, Mike Clay, had to say when he lost the election. It was the most vicious, petty, entitled display you could imagine; he said all his policies were amazing and all his opponent's policies were terrible and if anything went right during the new mayor's term it would be solely a result of things happening that Clay set in motion. The man clearly had no respect whatsoever for democracy or the voters.
I would not for a moment put it past Clay to get someone to make false allegations about his rival.
I supose it was inevitable.
I supose it was inevitable. The #MeToo movement has fatefully unleashed tornados of cynical and destructive actions that enable several male objectives:
1) Opportunistic political/legal operatives have jumped at the chance to derail the careers and destroy the reputations of enemies (and it matters not whether they dig up old grievances, or manufacture new ones). The fact is that they have no interest in truth or falsehood - their objective is simple disruption and continuing malevolent rumour.
2) By sowing discord in this fashion they generate cynical skepticism about the genuine epidemic of sexual assaults to which women are subjected. One could call it a conspiracy of the entitled male perpetrators who are determined to preserve their "rights" to abuse women. One could suppose it is less a conscious conspiracy than an unconscious knee jerk reaction of self preservation. In this case the word "jerk" is entirely appropriate.
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