Sexual assault: nearly 25, 000 cases will be reviewed by the RCMP

PHOTO AGENCE QMI, JOEL LEMAY

Maxime Huard

Friday, December 15, 2017 17:02

UPDATE
Friday, December 15, 2017 17:02

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OTTAWA – The royal Canadian mounted police (RCMP) will look back on almost 25 000 cases of sexual assault are judged to be without foundation since 2015.

The police first announced this week that a review team had identified 1260 records of sexual assault who would not have had to be classified as unfounded since last year. Among these, 284 complaints that required “further investigation”.

However, the RCMP will go even further. “The Branch has expanded the project to encompass all investigations of complaints of sexual assault which have not been addressed by the laying of charges in calendar years 2015 and 2016,” said Friday the spokesman of the federal police, Mary Damian.

For these two years, the RCMP will deal a total of 16 884 records. “We still have not finished gathering the records of 2017, but we expect to study more than 7000,” added Ms. Damian. Therefore, there will be a total of 24 000 to 25 000 records which will be reviewed by the police.

For 2016 only, a 10-038 reports of sexual assaults had been recorded by the RCMP.

According to the review team, there was a lack in particular of the documentation “on the measures that have been taken in a folder or on the reasons which justified it being classified as unfounded,” and noted a “lack of knowledge of the investigators on the act, in respect of the consent”.

The police classify a complaint as being without merit when they conclude that”no law has been violated, and that no attempt has been made to this end”, according to the RCMP.