An embattled Mountie's career with the RCMP is over nearly four years after explicit bondage photos surfaced online.

Staged photos of Cpl. Jim Brown posted on a sadomasochism website made the Coquitlam Mountie the subject of three separate investigations in 2012.

Brown was pictured wearing his RCMP boots in various bondage photos.

When the photos were brought to the attention of the RCMP, Brown was suspended with pay for alleged professional misconduct.

Four years later, CTV News has learned that his disciplinary hearing has been cancelled. The commanding officer of the RCMP in British Columbia said Brown submitted his discharge papers, which were "immediately" signed.

"His career with the RCMP is over," Dept. Comm. Craig Callens said in a statement Tuesday.

"I will continue to use all authorities available to me as the Commanding Officer of the RCMP in B.C. to hold accountable the few who fail to meet our standards of conduct and behavior."

While friends spoke in the embattled Mountie’s defence after the photos were made public, the RCMP distanced itself. In Deputy Commissioner Callens’ statement, he suggests the 2014 update to the RCMP act could have made a difference in the case.

It came after RCMP brass lobbied for more power to deal with problem officers.

"Our challenge is to separate behaviors that can be corrected and made better versus those that attract the most horrendous and outrageous condemnation by everybody,” Commissioner Bob Paulson said in June 2012.

Brown hasn’t commented publicly, but a defamation suit against the Pacific Newspaper Group provides some insight into his life since the photos were made public.

The statement of claim says he’s experienced embarrassment, anxiety and depression and has undergone medical treatment as a result of the incident.

During his suspension, Brown had been collecting an RCMP paycheque, and also picked up a hobby: radio hosting.

Brown has been hosting an online radio program investigating paranormal and supernatural events under the name James Tyson. His LinkedIn profile lists the show, and says he’s been a Mountie for 27 years.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Penny Daflos