WINNIPEG -- Disgraced former cop Richard Dow was taken out of court in handcuffs Thursday, sentenced to 16 months in jail for molesting a dozen young women.

Dow, 58, pleaded guilty last spring to 11 counts of sexual assault and one simple assault involving women who modelled for his now defunct modelling agency, RiCoCo International.

Justice Chris Martin rejected a defence appeal that Dow be allowed to serve a conditional sentence in the community.

"I cannot fathom that a conditional sentence order could properly underscore the condemnation required commensurate with the gravity of this situation and the degree of responsibility of Mr. Dow," Martin said.

The offences, committed between 2001 and 2005, involved Dow touching the victims sexually without their consent. Two of the victims were 17 at the time of the assaults while the rest were between 18 and 23.

Dow met one 19-year-old victim at the mall with her mother. Dow convinced the young woman to visit his home for a photo shoot and told her mother she "would be safe with me" because he was a police officer. Dow admitted to squeezing the woman's breasts without her consent.

When an 18-year-old victim attended a photo session with her mother, Dow told the older woman "she would be a distraction" and sent her home. During the ensuing photo session, Dow suggested the victim change in front of him and pose topless, court heard. Dow later came up behind the woman and cupped and squeezed her breasts.

Another 18-year-old victim was "frozen with fear" when Dow, without her consent, rubbed oil on her body and vagina, Dow took advantage of young, vulnerable victims "in what should have been a safe, professional setting," Martin said.

"(Dow's) actions demonstrated a clear disregard of the privacy and personal dignity of the victims," Martin said. "His offensive touching was humiliating and demeaning."

Last spring, a jury acquitted Dow of sexually assaulting a then 18-year-old woman following a lengthy photo shoot.
Dow admitted to having sex with the woman but testified it was consensual. The now 30-year-old woman told court Dow plied her with alcohol and then took advantage of her.

Jurors in that case were not told of the additional charges Dow faced.