EPS officer charged with sexual assault followed, groped woman, lawsuit alleges

An Edmonton police officer charged with sexual assault is accused of following a woman home from a gas station and forcibly groping her while he was on duty, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year.

Alberta’s police watchdog announced Thursday that Edmonton Police Service Const. Renzo Geronimo had been charged with sexual assault, breach of trust, unlawful confinement and being unlawfully in a dwelling house. The investigation started in September 2023.

In April, a statement of claim was filed naming former EPS chief Dale McFee and an officer, identified in the lawsuit only as “John Doe.” The lawsuit is seeking $1.5 million damages.

James Raworth, lawyer for the woman who filed the suit, said Friday that he and his client were informed about the criminal charges on Wednesday, and that they are related to the same circumstances in the civil suit. At the time the statement of claim was filed, he said they didn’t know the officer’s full name.

CBC is not identifying the woman because she is a complainant in a sexual assault case.

“My client is relieved to finally have had something happen,” Raworth said.

“These things take time — I appreciate that.… But two years of wondering whether people are going to believe her, two years of wondering whether or not she's going to see this officer again, two years of just not knowing and dealing with this unresolved, has been a tremendous burden for her.”

The criminal charges against Geronimo have not been proven and the allegations in the separate statement of claim have not been tested in court.

A statement of defence hasn’t been filed in the case. A spokesperson for EPS said that was part of an agreement with the plaintiff. This was confirmed by Raworth, who said proceedings were paused while they waited for a decision on whether charges would be laid.

According to the statement of claim, the woman was fuelling her car at a south-side gas station on the afternoon of Aug. 27, 2023, where there was also a marked EPS cruiser. When she left, the cruiser followed her, and the officer activated the car’s police lights.

In the statement, the woman alleges that when she pulled over, the officer told her that she was speeding and swerving, which she denies.

The lawsuit says she handed over her documents and called her mother while the officer inspected them. When he came back from his vehicle, he took her phone and told the woman’s mother he’d drive behind her “to make sure she got home all right.”

Once they were at the house, the officer allegedly parked behind the woman, blocking her car, and asked to come inside to say hello to her mother. The complainant “believed she had no choice,” so she let him in, the statement of claim says.

After the woman’s mother said hi from upstairs, where she had been having a shower, the officer asked to be shown around the house. The statement of claim says the woman resisted, but the officer “demanded” to go to the basement.