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Lawyer says Burnaby based Mountie lied to save marriage

At a police-sex conduct hearing on Thursday an RCMP lawyer shouted at a female officer that she lied and accused her boss of rape in order to save her marriage. Const. Susan Gastaldo and Staff-Sgt.

At a police-sex conduct hearing on Thursday an RCMP lawyer shouted at a female officer that she lied and accused her boss of rape in order to save her marriage.

Const. Susan Gastaldo and Staff-Sgt. Travis Pearson are accused of having sex in a police car during work hours and exchanging intimate messages via an RCMP BlackBerry in 2009, while Gastaldo worked for Pearson in the "Special O" surveillance unit in and around Burnaby.

Gastaldo filed a civil suit in B.C. Supreme Court alleging Pearson used his power and her vulnerable mental condition to sexually assault her and coerce her into sexual relations, after Vancouver police investigated and declined to charge Pearson.

On Thursday, Pearson's lawyer, Const. James Rowland, told Gastaldo she self-servingly agreed to the theory that she was sexually assaulted after her husband found her RCMP BlackBerry with its "sext" messages, and that she called Pearson and told him to lie about their relationship to her husband.

"You would do anything including making up a story this was sexual assault!" Rowland shouted.

"You called Travis Pearson and told him to lie!"

Gastaldo said she did tell Pearson to lie, but on Aug. 1 her husband had left with the incriminating BlackBerry and she feared for his life. The idea was to ask Pearson to help find her husband, Gastaldo said, so she could tell the truth to his face.

Gastaldo's husband, a former RCMP officer, suggested to her that she was assaulted after she told him her version of events, Gastaldo acknowledged on Friday.

"He opened the door for you and said this is sexual assault!" Rowland shouted.

Gastaldo, who is diagnosed with general anxiety disorder, has testified that early traumatic events in her career led to the severe anxiety that clouds her memory, according to her current psychologist.

Gastaldo acknowledged that she had upwards of 20 sexual encounters with Pearson from May to August 2009.

The hearing continues today.