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Veteran senior Mountie charged with underage sex offences dating back to 1982

Insp. Ronald Patrick Makar, shown here in November, 1994, spend most of his 34-year-career in Saskatchewan before becoming head of the RCMP detachment in Fort McMurray.

The RCMP is reeling after a senior officer was charged with underage sex offences dating back to 1982, when he was a young constable in Saskatchewan.

Insp. Ronald Patrick Makar, the chief operations officer at the Wood Buffalo Detachment in Fort McMurray, Alta., was arrested at his job Tuesday, the Mounties said in a news release reproduced by the Regina Leader-Post.

The Mounties said they launched an investigation after the alleged victim came forward last April and said she'd been assaulted in the summer of 1982 at a home in Carlyle, Sask. Makar, a 34-year RCMP veteran, was serving in Carlyle in his first year as a constable at the time, CBC News said.

Makar, 54, is charged with one count of sexual intercourse with a female without her consent and one count of intercourse with a female under age 14 under Criminal Code sections in force at the time. The current equivalent charges would be sexual assault.

[ Related: RCMP dogged by yet another sexual-harassment suit ]

Constance Haduik, Makar's girlfriend at the time of the alleged assaults, has also been charged with one count of indecent assault on a female. She was arrested last week in Kyle, Sask.

The alleged victim was 12 years old at the time of the suspected sexual assaults, QMI Agency reported.

"As soon as we became aware of the allegations we began a comprehensive criminal investigation which has resulted in charges against the two identified suspects," Saskatchewan RCMP Supt. Alfredo Bangloy said during a news conference Tuesday in Regina.

“Allegations like these are disturbing when made against a member of the general public. For a serving police officer to be facing charges like this is extremely disturbing.

"It is very difficult to be here today to speak with you all about this.”

Makar, who has been suspended without pay, and Haduik are scheduled to appear in court June 4 in Carlyle.

[ Related: Former RCMP officer, 76, charged in sex assault case ]

Bangloy told reporters the RCMP initially received information last April from a woman alleging previous sexual assaults by a serving Mountie, the Edmonton Journal reported. The alleged victim provided a detailed statement in December.

"I commend the victim who came forward. It takes great courage to speak out in these types of situations," Bangloy said, according to QMI Agency.

Bangloy said Haduik was not in custody and he expected Makar to be released later Tuesday.

The Mounties said Makar served mostly in Saskatchewan, including a stint at "F" Division headquarters in Regina. He became a commissioned officer in 2012 and was transferred to Alberta, where he became operations officer in charge at Wood Buffalo Detachment in booming Fort McMurray.

Makar has been suspended with pay while the matter is before the court.