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RNC officer pleads not guilty to 4 charges, including assault and choking

Const. Noelle Laite is accused of assaulting her partner on multiple occasions since September 2020. (Name withheld by CBC/Facebook - image credit)
Const. Noelle Laite is accused of assaulting her partner on multiple occasions since September 2020. (Name withheld by CBC/Facebook - image credit)
Name withheld by CBC/Facebook
Name withheld by CBC/Facebook

A Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer accused of assaulting her partner multiple times has pleaded not guilty to four charges.

Noelle Laite of Pasadena entered the pleas in Corner Brook provincial court Tuesday. She's charged with assault, assault with a weapon, and two counts of assault causing bodily harm, one of which involves alleged choking.

Laite is accused of beating and choking her intimate partner over a period of nearly two years.

The province's serious-incident response team began investigating the allegations after it was notified Jan. 31. Charges were laid in March.

According to court documents obtained earlier by CBC, Laite is accused of assaulting and choking her partner multiple times from Sept. 11, 2020, until the serious-incident response team got involved. The constable, who's been with the police force since 2016, is alleged to have assaulted her partner using a cardboard box earlier this year. She's also accused of committing assault causing bodily harm in an incident on Dec. 31.

In March, the RNC said Laite will remain on the job but had been assigned to administrative duties.

The charges against her mark the first filed by the serious-incident response team since provincial legislation was passed in 2021 giving them the power to do so.

Laite's trial is scheduled to begin in Corner Brook provincial court on Oct. 27.

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