Former RCMP assistant commissioner pleads guilty to assault of teen at lacrosse game

ABBOTSFORD · Former RCMP assistant commissioner David Teboul pleaded guilty to one count of assault in B.C. Supreme Court in Abbotsford on Wednesday. Teboul admitted to assaulting a 16-year-old player involved in a lacrosse game with his son at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre in July 2025. The guilty plea came on the day his trial was set to begin, vacating those court dates. Teboul had faced three charges, including assault causing bodily harm by choking, but pleaded guilty to a single assault count. An agreed statement of facts read in court said Teboul held the 16-year-old victim by the neck with enough force to lift the youth off the floor against a low wall. The statement, presented by special prosecutor Andi MacKay, said Teboul grabbed the teen by the neck a second time for about 15 seconds, bending the victim over the wall. The statement also said Teboul declared he was a police officer during the assault, which may have led the youth not to fight back.

"There was zero provocation in this case," MacKay said in court during the sentencing hearing. She called a request by Teboul's defence for a conditional discharge "wholly inappropriate." Teboul's lawyer, Brock Martland, is seeking a conditional discharge, while the Crown is requesting a suspended sentence with an 18-month probation period. A publication ban protects the identities of the victims.

The court heard the altercation happened on July 2, 2025, after a lacrosse game involving Teboul's son. A verbal argument between Teboul's son and the 16-year-old player drew in Teboul's wife before Teboul intervened violently, according to the statement of facts. The statement noted Teboul later gave Abbotsford police an account inconsistent with what was captured on video shown in court. The BC Prosecution Service appointed MacKay as a special prosecutor in August 2025 as the Abbotsford Police Department investigated the allegations. Teboul was charged in September 2025 with two counts of assault and one count of assault causing bodily harm by choking, suffocating or strangling involving two people. The prosecution service said special prosecutors are appointed to avoid any potential for real or perceived improper influence given the nature of the allegations and Teboul's senior position.

The court learned Teboul resigned from his position as assistant commissioner on July 1 of this year after being suspended without pay in the spring. According to the RCMP website, Teboul had been a Mountie since 1997 and served as the federal policing regional commander for the Pacific region, leading national security and organized crime programs. He received the King Charles III Coronation Medal in June 2025, about two weeks before the assault. The sentencing hearing continues.

With files from The Canadian Press, CBC News and Global News