Lawyer not surprised by number of sexual assault complaints against RNC officers

Police and Public Trust, a CBC News Atlantic investigative unit project, scrutinizes the largely off-limits police complaint and discipline systems across the region. Journalists are using access-to-information laws, and in some cases court challenges, to obtain discipline records and data.

There have been at least eight complaints of sexual assault by a member of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary made to the police force over the past seven years.

Five of those complaints came from members of the public. Three were criminal complaints that were investigated by the RCMP and Halifax Regional Police. All three cases were closed without charges being laid. 

An officer was suspended for two months without pay as a result of a 2018 public complaint, and three officers appear to have had the allegations against them withdrawn in relation to a 2015 complaint. 

With the exception of three cases — the specifics of which were redacted — all complaints involved different officers.

Those details are contained within a ledger of internal, public and criminal complaints filed against RNC officers between 2010 and August 2022. There were no complaints of sexual assault recorded prior to 2015. 

CBC News obtained the documents through access-to-information requests. The RNC redacted a number of cases, including the nature of complaint, citing privacy concerns. That makes it unclear whether there were more sexual assault complaints lodged.

Forty internal and public complaints of harassment were filed since 2010. The ledger does not specify if any of those complaints were sexual in nature. 

The sexual assault trials and appeals of RNC Const. Doug Snelgrove have propelled calls for a change of culture at the provincial police force. Last month, the Court of Appeal of Newfoundland and Labrador dismissed Snelgrove's request to overturn or stay his sexual assault conviction, handed down in 2021. After three trials, Snelgrove was sentenced to four years in prison.

Since his case hit the court system, there have been allegations against other officers in the police force, which culminated in two lawsuits against the government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Eight women allege they were sexually assaulted by on-duty RNC officers between 2001 and 2017.

Retired sergeant Robert Baldwin, who lost his court challenge to hide his identity, is the only officer named in the lawsuit. He has denied the allegations.

Lawyer Lynn Moore, who is representing the women, said she is not overly surprised that the force has only recorded eight sexual assault complaints in nearly 12 years. She says the true number of incidents is likely higher. 

"But I understand that people are reluctant to make a complaint about a police officer. People are reluctant to make complaints about sexual assault. So when you combine the two of those together, a sexual assault by a police officer, it doesn't surprise me that there were that few," Moore said. 

• Calls grow for Newfoundland police to reckon with sexual assault claims, culture
• She endured 3 trials after being raped by Doug Snelgrove. Now Jane Doe is thanking those who helped

The Serious Incident Response Team — the province's civilian-led police oversight agency — released a report last summer into six allegations of sexual assault or misconduct by at least one Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer.

The report said the officer retired as an "informal resolution" to a sexual assault complaint that the watchdog said involved a potentially criminal offence in 2017. In that case, the male officer kissed a woman he had picked up from downtown St. John's and tried to put his hand up her skirt.

SIRT's director criticized the RNC for not launching a criminal investigation, but said when they contacted the female complainant she did not want to pursue criminal charges. 

This week, the watchdog told CBC News there are no current sexual assault investigations ongoing in relation to any RNC officer.

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