Man charged after woman allegedly threatened in B.C. gets new court date

Oct 28, 2017 | 8:02 AM

VERNON, B.C. — The lawyer for a man who was charged after police issued a warning to the public and female sex workers in British Columbia’s Okanagan region says her client’s case was put over to next month in court on Thursday.

RCMP say 36-year-old Curtis Sagmoen was charged Oct. 17 with disguising his face with intent to commit an offence, uttering threats and weapons offences.

Defence lawyer Lisa Jean Helps says her client’s next court appearance in Vernon is scheduled for Nov. 23.

The charges were laid after the RCMP warned of a “possible risk to the general public and women sex workers” in the area of Salmon River Road near Salmon Arm after a male suspect allegedly threatened a woman with a firearm.

The RCMP are searching a rural 10-hectare property on Salmon River Road after human remains were found.

Five women have gone missing in the same area of the north Okanagan in the past 20 months.

The Mounties have not linked the property search with any ongoing investigation or with the public warning they issued earlier this month after the alleged incident on Aug. 28.

Helps declined further comment on the case.

“We are expecting that this may take some time to work its way through the justice system and we look forward to this all being litigated in front of a court of competent jurisdiction,” she said in a telephone interview.