WATSON LAKE - There was disappointment and anger expressed in the hallway outside the Watson Lake courtroom Monday when two local RCMP officers charged with rape failed to appear at their first court date.

"They should be here," a Watson Lake woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Star.

"I came to see their faces, but I guess cops don't have to show up when they break the law." (No such thing has been proved against the officers involved in this case.)

She pointed at the 20 or so people waiting to appear before the justices of the peace.

"These guys all show up, and they're the ones they call criminals."

Graham Belak and Shawn McLaughlin, both Mounties posted in Watson Lake, were charged with sexual assault last month after a complaint was made at the Watson Lake detachment.

Detachment commander Sgt. Paul Thalhofer laid the charge against his officers on Mar. 17 and the two were taken off duty that day.

Neither man was arrested, but both were ordered to stay away from their alleged victim's home and to have absolutely no contact with her. They were also ordered to stay away from drugs and alcohol.

They avoided some of the conditions typically put on people charged with violent crimes. Neither man was ordered to stay in the Yukon, forfeit any firearms, nor stay out of bars, taverns and off-sales outlets.

Lawyer Gordon Coffin appeared on behalf of Belak and McLaughlin in Watson Lake yesterday, but told the court he will not be defending either man in a trial.

The two were scheduled to enter their pleas Monday, but instead Crown prosecutor Peter Chisolm postponed the plea date until June 2, when it will be heard by judge John Faulkner of the territorial court.

Chisolm asked for the adjournment because "the Crown is securing Outside counsel," he told the court.

"We have a relationship with the (Yukon's) 'M' Division officers," the territory's chief prosecutor John Phelps explained today. "Whenever we get a complaint against an RCMP officer, we always get an opinion from outside the Yukon."

Chisolm, who works on Watson Lake cases regularly, "would have developed some sort of relationship with this officer," Phelps said, so it would not be appropriate for him to be the prosecuting lawyer.

The Crown expects to have an outside prosecutor on the case by the end of the week, likely from Edmonton, Phelps said.

The case was put over to a day when a Whitehorse-based judge could hear the case because local justice of the peace Ruth Wilkinson "will not hear this case," according to the court clerk.

Again, Wilkinson has likely worked with the two officers as colleagues within the justice system.

Outside the courtroom, rumours about the case were rampant, but one truth was clear.

"It makes you feel scared as a woman," one Watson Lake resident said. "The police are supposed to protect us - these guys better be treated just like anyone else."

Since the charges were first laid, the RCMP have repeatedly said they are working to assure Yukoners they can trust the force.

Both the Commission on Public Complaints Against the RCMP and the Edmonton City police force were immediately called in to oversee the investigation, and eventually the Edmonton cops took it over entirely.

Spokesman Sgt. Mark Groves said today the force will not be paying for the officers' lawyer, although both officers continue to receive their salaries from the force.