Port Moody’s mayor taking a leave of absence after sexual assault charge

PORT MOODY (NEWS 1130) – Port Moody Mayor Rob Vagramov says he will be taking a leave of absence from his role as mayor, starting Friday, after a charge of sexual assault.

He says he is innocent, the allegation against him is false, and that he has already passed a polygraph test on this matter.

“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,” he said at a press conference.

Vagramov says he will be stepping away from the mayor’s chair, and from his position on the police board, in order to prepare for his legal defense.

“I expect that this legal matter will reach the stage where preparing properly for my defense will require my full-time attention, and will take away from my ability to complete the work that I was elected to do as Mayor of Port Moody,” he says.

Port Moody Mayor Rob Vagramov addresses a charge against him of sexual assault

While he insists these allegations are false, he says he hopes this situation won’t take away from sexual assault victims.

“As someone who has been in contact with victims of sexual assault, I hope that this false accusation does not take away from the validity of other cases, and I’m thankful to live in a place where police take such claims extremely seriously,” he says.

Special prosecutor appointed

A special prosecutor approved a single charge of sexual assault against Vagramov related to an incident that’s alleged to have happened back in 2015.

The prosecutor was appointed back in Dec. to investigate the allegation.

“The appointment of a Special Prosecutor is intended to avoid any potential for real or perceived improper influence in the administration of justice in light of the nature of the allegations and the identity of the accused as an elected municipal official,” reads a statement from the BC Prosecution Service.

“Announcement of the appointment of the Special Prosecutor was initially postponed pending completion of the investigation and approval of charges,” it added.

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Port Moody Councillor Meghan Lahti said earlier Thursday that the charges were “shocking.”

“Personally, I feel disappointed that this has happened. If this is true, it’s extremely disheartening. This is the person that we are all behind, in terms of being the Mayor of the city. I really hope that everything gets resolved for him,” she said.

Asked what she means by “resolved,” Lahti said, “Either he’s able to resume his position or that whatever the charges are, that the case gets solved quickly.”

Elected this past October, this is Vagramov’s first term as mayor. At 28 years old, he is the youngest mayor in Metro Vancouver and one of the youngest in Canada.

In the weeks leading up to the election, Vagramov faced some controversy after an old video surfaced, showing Vagramov shotgunning a beer with a homeless man.

He is scheduled to appear in court April 25.

‘It’s very concerning’

Meanwhile, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson calls the situation “very concerning.”

“It’s always concerning when someone in a leadership position is facing these sorts of charges.”

When asked early on Thursday if Vagramov should continue as mayor while the investigation into the allegation takes place, Robinson said it’s a challenging topic given that people are duly elected.

“What I can tell you is we heard from the UBCM (Union of British Columbia Municipalities) last September, they raised these concerns given the was a historical case in Pitt Meadows and they passed a resolution asking government to look into this situation and look for solutions when someone is proven guilty and what to do, making sure that there are some tools,” Robinson adds. “And I’ve asked staff to do some of that work to take a look at how we can address these very difficult situations.”

 – With files from Sonia Aslam and Liza Yuzda