Two Waterloo Regional Police Service members have been cleared against any wrong doing by the Special Investigations Unit after a Cambridge man filed sexual assault claims against the officers following his 2021 arrest.
On Dec. 17, 2021, two police arrived at a call for a domestic dispute. The mother of the complainant claimed her son was destroying security cameras around her house and wanted him out.
The officers gained permission to enter the complainant’s room where a brief struggle ensued and he was arrested and removed from the home; all while the mother was present.
On July 21, 2022, WRPS notified the SIU that they had received a sexual assault allegation report from the Office of the Independent Police review director after the complainant from the 2021 arrest made serious allegations against the two officers.
He alleges that while he was being arrested, “a male officer had pinned him on his bed, dropped his pants and straddled his face. A female officer had un-holstered her firearm and placed the muzzle in his rectum.”
The SIU completed their investigation while the officers were allowed to remain on active duty.
On Nov. 17, 2022, the director of the SIU, Joseph Martino, wrote in a letter that the case had been closed and no further action was contemplated.
In his view, there were no reasonable grounds in the evidence to proceed with criminal charges against the officers.
This is the second SIU investigation of sexual assault in regards to police responses in the city of Cambridge for 2022. In both cases, there was not enough evidence to proceed with charges on the officers.
In May 2022, during an arrest, another complainant needed to use the washroom. Police thought it was safer for the individual and the officers if he remained handcuffed while urinating. Officers lowered and raised the complainant’s pants for him.
After being released from custody, he claimed he had been sexually assaulted by police during this interaction. The accused officer stayed on active duty, until Martino cleared them of any wrongdoing due to lack of evidence.
The SIU must investigate any and all claims against police when their policing and conduct come under question.
The WRPS will be discussing these incidents and their conclusions at the next police board meeting on Jan. 18.
