Sexual assault charges against a Toronto police sergeant were dismissed Wednesday morning.
Sgt. Christopher Heard was accused of sexually assaulting two women in his cruiser. Both incidents date back to 2015.
The first incident allegedly took place Sept. 24, 2015. Heard was alleged to have picked up a woman near Wellington Street West and Blue Jays Way to drive her home at around 1 a.m.
Heard was alleged to have touched her inner thigh.
READ MORE: Toronto police sergeant faces 2nd sexual assault charge after driving woman home: SIU
In a 34-page decision, Justice Russell Otter wrote: “I find that her degree of intoxication and animosity toward police significantly impacted the credibility and reliability of her evidence.”
The second incident dates back to Nov. 1, 2015. It involves a 25-year-old woman who said she was picked up by Heard in the early hours of the morning near King Street West and Blue Jays Way.
Similar to the first allegation, the woman told police she was being driven home by the officer and was sexually assaulted.
The judge found inconsistencies with her recollection of events.
He wrote: “These inconsistencies directly impact the reliability and credibility of her overall testimony. The only matter on which she did not falter was the core allegation of the sexual touching.”
Heard was charged last year by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU). While being acquitted on criminal charges, the judge made note of the longtime Toronto police officer’s conduct.
- Trucker’s body found in trailer in Newfoundland after failed police search in Ontario
- S&P/TSX composite down as shares of Shopify tumble, U.S. stock markets mixed
- Ontario man on trial for killing his mother takes the stand: ‘I lost it’
- Person tries to get into Drake’s Toronto property as shooting investigation continues
READ MORE: Toronto police officer charged after woman allegedly sexually assaulted in cruiser: SIU
“His conduct is rendered more egregious for a police officer with 27 years’ experience and 10 of those years as a sergeant,” wrote the judge.
Heard did not activate his in-car camera and microphones, which would record any interaction between the defendant and the two complainants.
“The rules are the rules and they are applied to everybody equally regardless of gender and that’s as it should be,” Heard’s lawyer Gary Clewley said.
“His Honour just did it by the book and at the end of the day, he wasn’t satisfied that their evidence was sufficient to meet the strenuous test of beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Comments