Criminal, Civil Allegations Against MHPS Officers Continue
MHPS Const. Noel Darr.
A Medicine Hat police officer facing allegations of witness tampering is scheduled to enter a plea next month to indictable criminal charges which carry an up to 10-year jail sentence.
Edmonton police charged MHPS Const. Noel Darr, 56, in July 2025 on allegations of obstructing justice by dissuading a witness from giving evidence through, “threats, bribes or other corrupt means,” according to court documents.
The sworn information filed with the Medicine Hat court by Edmonton police alleges Darr attempted to obstruct justice through witness tampering between February 2022 and November 2023.
Media releases by both Edmonton and Medicine Hat police state a Police Service Regulation investigation was launched in February 2023 which appears to narrow the timeline of the criminal allegation outlined in court documents by a year. Both police agencies state, “during that investigation the alleged criminal conduct occurred.”
That investigation was launched following complaints by a former MHPS employee, stated the releases.
The investigation and criminal allegations are believed to relate to internal strife within the police service which saw former MHPS chief Mike Worden resign after a year-and-a-half on the job. In a civil lawsuit filed nearly two years ago by Worden, he alleges fellow officers engaged in a smear campaign against him involving claims he engaged in hypersexual behaviour and misconduct.
Darr and former MHPS Insp. Brent Secondiak as well as Sgt. Carissa Witkowski have been named as defendants in that civil case which alleges the trio were trying to force the city’s top cop’s resignation.
That civil case largely focuses on Darr and Secondiak spearheading efforts to force Worden out by spreading false and defamatory allegations about his sexual activities. Worden’s lawsuit claims those actions, in at least one specific instance, amounted to blackmail.
The lawsuit cites a March 3, 2022 discussion between Secondiak and Worden in which the former police chief was told by his subordinate that unnamed MHPS employees were in possession of embarrassing sexually related electronic messages. The lawsuit goes on to claim Secondiak stated these employees would share these messages with the Medicine Hat Police Commission if Worden didn’t resign.
Former MHPS Insp. Brent Secondiak (left) with former chief Mike Worden. (File photo)
But according to Worden’s lawsuit, the former city police chief brought the matter to the attention of the Medicine Hat Police Commission himself shortly following that conversation.
Worden’s lawsuit claims Darr filed an official complaint against Worden to the police commission a few weeks later on March 23. That complaint included statements that Worden engaged in grooming techniques that, “are akin to an instruction manual for sexual predators.” The complaint stated the MHPS chief utilized both a public and “covert” social media account to meet women. Darr’s complaint also states Worden would ask for oral sex in exchange for gym training time, utilize a “glory hole” and other sexual activities.
The lawsuit’s characterization of the March timeline of the events was confirmed through a May 27, 2022 statement by the police commission reported in the Medicine Hat News.
“Earlier this spring, after having heard of allegations of non-workplace misconduct, the former chief, himself, brought these circumstances to the commission’s attention,” the News reported the commission said in a statement. “The commission treated it as a complaint and put in place an investigative process, conducted by a law firm not based in Medicine Hat, to ensure complete independence. The law firm, in turn, hired an investigator to conduct a thorough review. The commission had no contact with the investigator, and no limits were placed on their inquiry.
“The commission received the initial information from the former chief at the beginning of March, and the work to establish and complete the investigative process took approximately two months. A summary report was submitted to the commission clearing former chief Worden of any wrongdoing. These findings were also forwarded to the Solicitor General, who confirmed proper protocols had been followed by the commission.”
Despite the May 2022 finding of no wrongdoing in the police commission’s investigation, Worden’s lawsuit claims that month saw Darr, Witkowski and Secondiak continue a campaign to propagate false information. Specific to Witkowski, the lawsuit claims she planned to take the allegations to the provincial government.
MHPS Sgt.Carissa Witkowski. (Photo MHPS)
Worden announced his resignation internally on May 20 as the public spotlight was set to be directed on MHPS’s internal issues.
In a May 23, 2022 statement by the Medicine Hat Police Commission, it said Worden’s resignation was due to “personal and family issues.” In a social media post by city police, Worden also stated those were the reasons for his resignation. However, that was contradicted by a number of reasons set out in the former police chief’s lawsuit that would be filed in March 2024.
On May 25, 2022 in an article published by Global News, authors Charles and Jennie Russell featured claims by a woman given the pseudonym “Emily.” She was identified in Worden’s lawsuit as local resident Sashia Steier and is a named defendant in the former chief’s civil case.
Steier told Global News of an online relationship which began in October of 2021 that included sometimes graphic sexual messages. Court documents, including those submitted by Steier, indicate initial contact between her and Worden began earlier.
Global News reported obtaining more than a dozen screenshots of those messages from Steier, with the article stating, “Worden candidly describes his sexual proclivities and past encounters, including at parties with strangers.”
Worden’s lawsuit claims Darr was also in an intimate relationship with Steier at the same time he was between August and November 2021.
In Steier’s statement of defence filed in February 2025 in response to Worden’s lawsuit, she stated while she had consensual sexual relations with Darr in 2005 and 2006, that sexual relationship ended but the two remained acquaintances up to May 2022.
The statement indicates Steier, at the request of Darr, attended and cooperated with the police commission’s hired investigator, Scott Doran of Veritas Solutions.
Steier’s statement of defence maintains allegations in the Global article that Worden instructed her to delete messages between the two and lie to investigators about the sexual relationship between the two. Her statement maintains she was truthful in her dealings with the investigator.
The statement of defence stated Steier and Worden began to exchange messages starting in August 2021 with the relationship progressing to consensual sexual relations three times starting in November of that year.
The document also outlines that Steier advised Darr in late 2021 or early 2022 that she had received messages from Worden that “were disturbing and creepy.”
Steier subsequently provided screenshots of those messages to Darr. But Steier stated Darr shared those screenshots with third parties without her consent.
Worden’s lawsuit also made claims regarding actions of police concerning two local reporters.
It states Secondiak told Darr that one local reporter had filed harrassment complaint against Worden in the fall of 2021. The statement of claim indicates that reporter directly informed the police commission this was false in May 2022.
Worden’s lawsuit also claims Darr reached out to another local reporter following the publication of the Global News piece featuring the allegations against the former chief. The statement of claims alleges Darr approached the local reporter stating Worden was subject to internal discipline and investigation while working for Calgary police and his departure from that police service was involuntary.
All three of the MHPS officers named as defendants in Worden’s lawsuit have not filed statements of defence. Current MHPS Chief Alan Murphy is also a named defendant as MHPS’s representative. The City of Medicine Hat is also a named defendant.
Secondiak resigned from MHPS in July 2024.
Worden’s suit is seeking nearly $2 million from the defendants.
Darr’s scheduled to enter a plea on Feb. 10 at Medicine Hat Court of Justice.
None of the civil nor criminal allegations have been proven in a court of law.