A former Edmonton reservist acquitted of sexual assault has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the military, the complainant and her mother.

Orman Savage was found not guilty of sexual assault in his second trial in 2009. He was accused of sexually assaulting the recruit, then 21, at a military party on July 30, 2004.

Former reservist Orman Savage speaks to reporters outside the Edmonton courthouse in October 2009 after a jury found him not guilty of sexually assaulting a recruit.

In a statement of claim filed Oct. 20 in Edmonton Court of Queen's Bench, Savage alleges the woman, who cannot be named, lied to military police and then to the court in both trials. He alleges the woman's mother also lied under oath.

He further claims the investigation was botched by poorly trained and malicious military police who abused their authority.

A provincial court judge found Savage guilty of sexual assault in 2007. The conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered by the Alberta Court of Appeal. Jurors in the second trial reached the not guilty verdict in just over an hour.

The lawsuit claims Savage's first conviction "was a direct result of the knowingly false evidence" given by the complainant and her mother. Savage spent five months in prison before he was released pending the outcome of his appeal.

The allegations in the civil lawsuit have not been proven in court.

Savage says he's spent more than $100,000 defending himself and has suffered depression, humiliation and a loss of reputation because of the accusations.

The former master corporal applied to get back into the Canadian Armed Forces after he was acquitted. The military hasn't yet approved his request.

"They need to sit up and take notice," Savage told CBC News. "About the only way they're going to do that is if they're slapped with something that's going to make them take notice."

Savage still hopes to be reinstated into the military. He wants to be able to leave on his own terms.

"I don't want a dishonourable discharge like what I have right now," he said. "I want to be able to again hold my head up high and from my point of view I still can't, until such time as my name is totally cleared."