Military referred 93 sexual offence cases to civilian police, 64 under investigation
CTV
The military says it has referred 93 cases of criminal sexual offences to civilian police since December 2021, and 64 of the cases are under investigation.
The military says it has referred 93 cases of criminal sexual offences to civilian police since December 2021, and 64 of the cases are under investigation.
An independent report released a year ago recommended the government remove jurisdiction over such cases from military police after a series of sexual misconduct scandals involving high-ranking officers.
Brig.-Gen. Simon Trudeau, the Canadian Forces provost marshal, says in a written update that 29 cases the military tried to pass along were declined by federal, provincial or municipal police forces.
Trudeau has not given reasons for those rejections, but there have been complaints from some police forces and from the province of Ontario about the strain the additional cases puts on their resources.
Another 97 cases reported to the military police were never passed along to another force.
Trudeau says in 20 of those cases, the victim asked for military police to oversee the case and in others, victims chose not to proceed with an investigation at all.