A Toronto police officer who responded to a woman’s call for help regarding a domestic threat reportedly returned to the victim’s home the next day and sexually assaulted her, according to recently released police documents.
Earlier this year, the Ontario police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) loaded Const. Conal Quinn with sexual assault and breach of trust following an incident on March 21, 2021, involving a Toronto woman.
Details of the alleged assault are contained in documents released this week by the Toronto Police Court, where Quinn made his first appearance on Tuesday. In addition to the criminal charges, Quinn faces three counts of professional misconduct under the Ontario Police Services Act stemming from the alleged assault. He is currently suspended with pay.
The allegations have not been proven in court and Quinn, who worked at the 52nd Division downtown, has yet to plead guilty. Officers found guilty in court face consequences ranging from reprimand to dismissal.
David Butt, Quinn’s attorney, declined to comment on the allegations and said his client will fully address them at the hearing.
“As always, I encourage everyone to avoid drawing premature conclusions based on incomplete information,” Butt said.
According to police documents, on March 20, 2021, Quinn was sent to a woman’s home after she reported being the victim of a “domestic threat.” Quinn provided the woman with contact information “should she require further police assistance,” the documents allege.
The next day, after the woman contacted Quinn on her way home, the officer returned to the woman’s apartment. He left another call that he had been on at the time without telling the communications operator, according to the documents.
When Quinn arrived, it is alleged that he sexually assaulted the woman.
“While you were there to help (the woman), a victim, you began to initiate physical contact that included hugging … rubbing her back and then beginning to kiss her,” the documents allege.
Quinn then entered the woman’s room “in full service uniform” and began to touch her in a sexual way, according to police documents.
“In doing so, he misused his character and position as a service member to gain private advantage,” the documents allege.
The woman later complained to SIU, which resulted in Quinn’s arrest. According to the watchdog, the officer was released with a promise to appear and is scheduled to appear in court later this month.
In 2018, a Toronto police officer pleaded guilty to professional misconduct for sending what a police prosecutor called “inappropriate” text messages to a woman, a day after she responded to a domestic incident involving her ex-boyfriend.
After obtaining the phone number of his colleague’s wife, Const. Jeffrey MacArthur began texting him around midnight to register, asking if officers “get a 10” for his service. Around 4 am, the officer sent a collage of photos of himself, including one of him shirtless and one of him doing a handstand on the beach, before saying “Sorry !!! That was for someone else. “
The woman later posted on Facebook about the texting, asking if she should report the officer’s behavior. “I thought the first message was really nice, but now I’m questioning his intentions,” he wrote.
The woman later complained to the Office of the Independent Director of Police Review, resulting in the professional misconduct charge against MacArthur.
Police prosecutor, Insp. Shane Branton, described the texts as “clear misconduct”, saying that they “violated the trust” that the complainant would have had in the police.
Reference-www.thestar.com