Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, says there’s “no basis” to proceed with charges following a sexual assault allegation against a Barrie police officer.
Following an arrest, a man complained to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) that a Barrie police officer touched his genitals at some point during an interaction.
On the morning of Sept. 12, 2020, the SIU says two officers were dispatched to an address in Barrie following a 911 call in which a woman reported being choked by a man.
Officers arrested the man inside the Barrie home and led him out to a police cruiser.
At the station, the SIU says the man was lodged in a cell before he was remanded into custody at the Central North Correctional Centre, where he later filed his complaint with the OIPRD.
The man alleged an officer grabbed his genitals while he was placed in the back of the police cruiser.
The officer denied he touched the man’s genitals and said he didn’t see the officer he was with commit any inappropriate actions, either. The other officer said the same thing about himself and his partner.
“While the complainant’s rendition of what occurred, if true, would arguably amount to a sexual assault, I am satisfied that it would be unwise and unsafe to rest charges on the strength of his account alone,” Martino said in his decision.
“The complainant’s recollection of various aspects of the incident stood alone and was contradicted in multiple material ways by the remainder of the evidence.”
The SIU has closed the file.
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