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Burnaby cops conduct hearing adjourned

RCMP Const. Susan Gastaldo broke down in tears as a police code-of-conduct hearing into her sexual relationship with a high-ranking Mountie from Burnaby was adjourned on Friday. Gastaldo and Staff-Sgt.

RCMP Const. Susan Gastaldo broke down in tears as a police code-of-conduct hearing into her sexual relationship with a high-ranking Mountie from Burnaby was adjourned on Friday.

Gastaldo and Staff-Sgt. Travis Pearson are accused of having sex in a police car and exchanging intimate messages via an RCMP BlackBerry in 2009. A weeklong hearing into their actions ground to a halt Friday morning, as RCMP conduct prosecutor Gregory Rose and Gastaldo's RCMP-appointed defence lawyer Larry McGonigal abruptly asked for an adjournment to discuss a settlement in Gastaldo's case.

Gastaldo worked for Pearson in the "Special O" surveillance unit, which is officially run out of RCMP's E- division, but operates in and around Burnaby.

Gastaldo and Pearson are both inactive. An RCMP spokesperson said each could face sanctions ranging from reprimands to forfeiture of pay to dismissal in the disciplinary hearing.

As The Province has reported, Gastaldo has also filed a civil suit in B.C. Supreme Court alleging that Pearson used his power and her vulnerable mental condition to sexually assault her at his home and coerce her into ongoing sexual relations. The suit alleges that Vancouver police botched an investigation into complaints Gastaldo made against Pearson.

Gastaldo testified in the hearing that Pearson ran a "snoop" network to gather compromising information on superior officers and made himself "invincible" in the process.

On Friday, Pearson's legal counsel Const. James Rowland told The Province it hasn't been decided whether Pearson will take the stand, but he stressed Pearson is eager to "challenge certain assertions made."

"[Pearson] has not had the chance to cross-examine the key witness," Rowland told RCMP adjudicators on Friday, before the hearing was adjourned for two weeks.

Previous testimony included details of sexual trysts Gastaldo and Pearson had including an incident behind a Burnaby garbage dump.