Just because no provincial police officers in Val-d’Or, Que., are facing criminal charges, doesn’t mean the women who accused them of abuse aren’t telling the truth, Crown officials said Friday.
There wasn’t enough evidence to lay charges against any of the provincial police officers accused of sexually assaulting women in the mining town, 530 kilometres northwest of Montreal, according to Quebec prosecutors.
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Instead, Crown officials said two retired officers would be charged with offences dating back more than 20 years, which occurred hundreds of kilometres away in Schefferville., Que., in the remote northeast part of the province.
“We have to be clear,” said Mathieu Locas, with Quebec’s Crown prosecutor’s office.
“The fact that charges are not being laid doesn’t mean the event didn’t take place.”
The burden of proof on the Crown is very high and we have to show that these suspects are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”
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Montreal police were brought in to Val-d’Or, Que., in order to investigate reports that aboriginal women alleged they were assaulted by officers sometime before April 4.
The investigation looked at 38 cases involving 35 officers, including six who are retired and one who is dead.
Twenty-eight people had come forward with accusations against police; 21 of them were women.
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Crown officials said they had enough evidence to charge retired provincial police officer Alain Juneau with sexual assault and assault, allegedly committed between 1992-94 in Schefferville.
The second officer charged is Jean-Luc Vollant, a retired officer with Schefferville’s native police force.
He is charged with three counts including rape and sexual assault, between 1980-86, also in Schefferville.
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Both men were released on conditions and are scheduled to appear in court in January.
First Nations leaders in the community of Val d’Or and around Quebec said they are unsatisfied with the results of the investigation.
Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, Ghislain Picard, has called for an independent police investigation into the allegations.
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But the local First Nations leaders want such an investigation expanded to cover the entire relationship between police officers and First Nations.
The mayor of Val-d’Or, Pierre Corbeil, has also called for a independent inquiry to look into the allegations of abuse.
“The pain is vivid once again with the conclusions and choices of the Crown prosecutor’s office,” he said Friday.
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