SIRT-N.L. investigating four police officers for alleged sexual offences

CBC has learned that four police officers in Newfoundland and Labrador are under investigation for alleged sexual offences by the province's police-oversight agency.

The Serious Incident Response Team-Newfoundland and Labrador has confirmed it is investigating three RNC officers and one RCMP officer. SIRT-N.L. told CBC that two of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officers under investigation are retired, while the other is not, and did not provide information about the status of the RCMP officer.

SIRT-N.L. director Mike King said he could comment on ongoing investigations.

Neither police force would confirm to CBC whether the officers are working or retired, if they are in positions that bring them in contact with the public, or if they've been suspended — and if they have been suspended, whether it's with or without pay.

Lawyer Lynn Moore says the police forces should be more forthcoming with the public.

"I think that's a serious misstep. I believe the public have a right to know if they are encountering people who are under investigation for such serious matters, such as sexual assault, and, in particular, I think women would like to know whether or not that person who is pulling them over is possibly a suspect in a sexual assault," she said.

This past summer Moore reported she heard from a dozen women who said they were either sexually assaulted by a police officer or propositioned for sex in a police patrol car. She said the complainants named seven different RNC officers.

Those allegations were made public two months after RNC Const. Doug Snelgrove was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in her own home in 2014, while he was on duty.

On Nov. 12, Snelgrove was sentenced to four years in prison.

Moore says she has since heard from more women with a variety of complaints about abuse by police but the number of police she has heard complaints about hasn't changed.

She said she doesn't know the identites of the officers being investigated or if SIRT-N.L. has heard from any of the women who have come forward to her.

"I do know this is very disturbing, and upsetting, to be a member of a community where so many people are coming forward with these very grave allegations against people who really hold a lot of power," she said.

Moore says the police forces could say whether the officers under investigation have contact with the public without revealing their identities.

"I don't see that they could possibly identify anyone if they merely said this person has contact with the public or does not have contact with the public. There are a lot of jobs at the RNC where people do not have in-person contact with the public," she said.