The Province’s Serious Incident Response team has released its Director’s Report regarding its investigation into allegations of sexual offences involving RNC officers in St. John’s.
Director Mike King says five potential incidents were identified through files provided to them by the RNC. A sixth incident was also identified after a local lawyer advised them of an allegation of sexual misconduct by an RNC officer.
Those incidents are outlined in detail in the report. One is from 2010 and involves an officer identified as SO1, the others involve reports of complaints received by the RNC between January and May 2017, and involve an officer identified as SO2. The report notes that because of a lack of data from the first file, it is unable to determine if SO1 AND SO2 are the same officer.
King says there is only one incident, reported in February of 2017, that would warrant criminal code charges, in which the victim alleges an officer, identified as SO2, picked her up after a night of drinking downtown, kissed her and tried to put his hand up her skirt.
An internal investigation was launched by the RNC following the complaint. The officer was questioned and he claimed any interaction was consensual and that the woman had offered to perform oral sex on him.
While it was found that the complaint did not warrant a criminal code investigation, an “informal” resolution was reached where the officer resigned from his position.
When SIRT attempted to reach the victim, they were informed through a separate lawyer that she did not wish to pursue a criminal investigation.
In conclusion, King states that the allegations in each file, if true, display a “disturbing pattern” of the officer using his position to solicit sexual favours from women in St. John’s. However, King says without the victim participating in an investigation they do not have enough evidence to lay charges.
King says the RNC should have investigated the incident more thoroughly when it first came to light years ago.
He says while there are no further investigative routes to explore, the file remains open and they are appealing to the public to contact them if they have any relevant information.
