Sexual Violence in Toronto Area Police Forces: Summary of Recent Cases

Reference to the banner flown in Toronto by a group of officers. Artwork by Author (2020).

Why are police officers held to a lower, not higher, standard than the rest of us?

In almost any other profession, you would get fired for repeatedly sexual assaulting or harassing others. But for some reason, sexual misconduct in police departments in Ontario often results in worse career outcomes for the victim than the perpetrator. In one case, an officer sexually assaulted a fellow officer on four separate occasions, but was given a plea deal that granted him conditional discharge and no criminal record. The accused officer admitted that he considered charging the victim with offences due to her complaints about the sexual assaults. He remains a police officer, whereas the victim ended up retiring. In another case, an officer who was a victim of years of sexual harassment received the same dock in pay (eight hours worth) as the officer harassing her because she failed to report his harassment fast enough. These examples are not exceptions to the rule; it is common practice for police to retaliate against whistleblowers by charging them with offences and severely reducing their responsibilities.

Part of the problem is that the Toronto police union has explicitly stated that they pay for the legal fees of officers accused of misconduct, but not of officers that are victims of that misconduct. This likely comes as no surprise to those familiar with the presidents of the Toronto police union histories of misconduct.

Victims are left with the decision to either silently suffer through the abuse or ask for change at the cost of their careers and finances.

Fixing the problem

A Human Rights Tribunal concluded in June 2020 that sexual harassment was likely a pervasive problem across Toronto Police departments. What was their mandate for such a serious conclusion? They ordered the Toronto Police Chief to create a strategy to combat this environment (with no specifics on what this strategy should include other than training and education), that all police officers complete annual sexual harassment training, and that internal complaints get included in the Annual Professional Standards statistics report.

Once again, they left the police to police the police.

The following are examples of current issues in the police force that were not addressed by the orders of the Human Rights Tribunal:

• Officers often suffer negligible career consequences for committing sexual harassment and/or assault. From the recent cases below, the only penalties I could find were 20 days docked pay for one senior officer and 8 hours docked pay for another.
• Officers covering up the misconduct of another do not suffer any consequences (this is pervasive problem in police misconduct investigations). If an officer is willing to cover up the wrongdoing of another, how can we trust them to protect us from wrongdoing?
• Officers who retaliate against other officers do not suffer consequences (e.g., charging whistleblowers with bogus offences, lack of responding to back up calls of officers in danger). This is a clear abuse of power and shows these individuals cannot be trusted to use their power ethically.
• Officers who have been accused of sexual misconduct can and do work in sexual violence units (see Zarabi-Majd’s case below).
• Workplace sexual harassment and assault complaints are in most cases investigated by cops or ex-cops instead of an independent body.

The police wield huge power over the enforcement of the law but no one is holding them accountable for how they use that power.

If you think any of these recommendations are unnecessary or hyperbolic, then read the summaries of recent cases below.

Recent sexual misconduct cases

I want to emphasize these only include cases where a police officer is the victim and that the case details were made public. I also omitted a case where the court could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the sexual assaults took place. This could mean that the assault did not happen or that it was difficult to prove as the only witnesses were the accuser and those accused.

Toronto Constable Heather McWilliam accused fellow officers and supervisors in Division 23 of sexually harassing her routinely for years (2011–2014).

Her allegations were concluded as being credible by a Human Rights Tribunal in June 2020:

• Sgt. Angelo Costa, a superior officer, came up to her and “pushed his lips onto hers and tried to drive his tongue into her mouth” McWilliam tried to push him off and kept her mouth closed, but he still continued for several seconds before stopping. Costa said he hugged McWilliam as a way of saying “welcome to the platoon” and denied kissing her. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU; investigators are mostly ex-cops) found no reasonable grounds to believe a criminal offence was committed, but the Human Rights Tribunal concluded that the sexual assault occurred likely as described by McWilliam. They also noted concerns about Costa’s credibility. E.g., he denied hearing any sexual jokes in the workplace and denied being a jokester (contrary to the reports from his colleagues). Costa had also made jokes to her about oral sex and wanting to “lick her”.
• Sgt. Chris Nolan, a superior officer, told her he’d “spank her later in private”. Nolan and another officer (Const. Junior McLaughlin) made sexual comments about her riding horses (e.g., “Wish Heather would ride my horse”) in front of a her and their colleagues. Nolan has admitted to making inappropriate comments and pleaded guilty to a Police Services Act charge of discreditable conduct (docked 20 days of pay). McLaughlin has 7 (known) discreditable conduct charges including getting drunk while guarding a dead body to the point of passing out (with the deceased’s liquor), lying about damaging property and sick days, and several charges related to sexual misconduct where McWilliam was not the target.
• McWilliam was the target of a variety of sexual and degrading comments from officers such being asked “What colour underwear were you wearing?”, and other officers calling her a “bitch”, “dyke”, or “c*nt”.
• Female porn stars were sometimes used as screensavers and desktop wallpapers.
• A senior officer Joe Dawson wrote her a note saying “you’re smokin hot” and told her not to tell anyone about the note. She became upset by the note and ripped it up in front of him. He would also make comments about her weight fluctuating, told her what clothes he liked her wearing, told her he watched her in the gym via the security cameras, and told her she should wear high heels and a skirt.
• A supervising officer (Sgt. Howard Payton) showed another officer a Facebook vacation photo of her and two other women in a bikini while at work at a crime scene and showed it to others later in the office. He also admitted to making a picture of her his desktop wallpaper on his computer, which he had shown her and other officers saw.

Attempt to report the harassment internally:

• McWilliam reported sexual comments to Supt. Ron Taverner who was in charge of Division 23. His response was pointing to a poster in his office that said “loose lips sink ships”, suggested she needed tougher skin, and recommended that she not file a formal report. Taverner did not testify at the hearing due to a concussion, which his doctor said made him medically unfit to testify. Taverner is a close family friend of Premier Doug Ford, whose appointment as head of the Ontario Provincial Police is the subject of a probe by the provincial integrity commissioner.

The police board’s response:

• The board denied McWilliam’s allegations and argued the tribunal should not consider whether there is a systemic sexual harassment problem within Toronto police forces because she is the sole officer bringing forward allegations. They argued that the allegations were properly investigated and dealt with by management, including Taverner, Professional Standards, and the SIU.

Outcome:

• The Toronto Police Services Board was ordered to develop new human rights policies and training programs (annual video-conference presentations).
• All internal complaints with a human rights component and all applications to the Human Rights Tribunal by employees should be tracked and reported on in the Annual Professional Standards report.
• Awarded Const. McWilliam $75,000 from the police board and an additional $10,000 from the board and Costa, which recouped only part of her $150,000 legal bill.
• Six years after McWilliam’s started this process, she is “medically and financially worse off for having spoken up”.

Toronto Constable Firouzeh “Effy” Zarabi-Majd alleges that she has experienced routine unwanted sexual advances, racism, and inappropriate and sexualized messages while working in Division 51 of the Toronto Police Service:

• Sgt. Hamil Leslie — a superior officer that was a long-time friend — visited her at her home for coffee when he suddenly forced his lips on hers and grabbed her back, pressing his tongue into her mouth. When she pulled away, he asked her to have sex. She told him to leave. He repeated this request during phone calls in the following weeks.
• Two officers allegedly asked her via text for naked photos and asked her female colleague to take photos of her in the changing room.
• Two male colleague Const. Ryan Kotzer and Christopher Hoeller allegedly asked to have sex with her, she refused, but then one blocked her path to the door saying “If you don’t f — — us both tonight, I will tell everyone that you f — -ed us both”. The other officer then said, “OK, just show us your tits then”. Kotzer has also pleaded guilty in a separate incident for tasering a homeless man handcuffed in the back of his cruiser. Hoeller asked in a group chat with 4 other colleagues: “Is effy’s bush all brillowy like a blk (Black) chick?”. Hoeller later worked in human trafficking for the Sex Crimes Unit.
• Photos of women were allegedly regularly taped to the walls with misogynistic and/or racist comments written on top. Removing these photos would “annoy” the male officers.
• She was allegedly asked if she was a “Musi” (referring to her being Muslim) by a superior, which then prompted others to call her this.
• She was allegedly denied opportunities to advance due to discriminatory promotions based on gender, race, and ethnic origin.
• She was witness to officers allegedly discussing the breast size of female colleagues and the appearance of sexual assault and harassment victims. She was also present for officers allegedly making negative comments on the actions of a sexual assault victims (e.g., drinking alcohol).
• She worried that if she came forward about any of the incidents, it would negatively impact her reputation and risk her safety. E.g., radio requests for backup would not be answered or “would be met with a purposefully slow response”, which she had witnessed when fellow officers don’t like another cop.

Attempts to hold TPS accountable:

• She allegedly went to 10 different agencies to report it. They directed her to go back and report it to the same superiors that perpetrated the misconduct. She alleges that her report of sexual assault was never sent to the SIU and that Police Chief Mark Saunders wouldn’t allow an investigation by the OPP into the assault.
• She and two other officers were planning to sue the Toronto Police Service for enabling a “toxic, racist and sexist culture”, but the other two officers settled and signed non-disclosure agreements.
• She was given an ultimatum by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board to sign off her right to sue or lose her benefits. The letter states that if she accepts benefits then she “understands that she cannot start a lawsuit against anyone concerning this incident. Only the employer may do so.”
• Since then, she has been cut off from her pay and forced to sell her condo to pay mounting legal bills.
• She is has filed a Human Right Tribunal complaint, which is ongoing.

Toronto Sergeant Jessica McInnis alleges she was sexually harassed for years by another detective in Division 14 (2014–2017):

• Det. Mark Morris sent her more than a hundred “sexual” and “obscene” messages in both private and group settings over the span of two years.
• He allegedly texted her “Remember if I slapped that ass it’s not a sexual assault if I say nice game. That’s what we do in sports.”
• In one message he told her he was near her home and offered to stop by with the “anaconda,” a term used to describe his penis in multiple messages.
• Morris allegedly shared an Islamophobic joke about women who wear niqabs.
• Morris allegedly sent a video to a group chat of officers depicting a dancing woman with an accompanied message “It’s the black Jessica McInnis. I’d tap that,” another officer responded “Lol ya I would too haha”.
• McInnis frequently asked Morris not to send her explicit images or make comments she found demeaning. But she says that Morris “made it clear to me that he enjoyed institutional protection for his discriminatory and harassing behaviour.”
• Morris allegedly became very upset with McInnis for investigating and charging his friend (another cop) with sexual assault. He threw things and screamed at her that she was a “f***ing rat king” and that she was going to “get kicked out”.
• She also alleges that other officers had assaulted and harassed her throughout her career, including an incident where an officer grabbed her in front of other supervisors and kissed her on the lips and another told her she “dressed like a slut”.

Attempts to report misconduct:

• McInnis was interviewed by the police Professional Standards Unit about Morris’ behaviour. After Morris learned of this interview, he allegedly became enraged and lunged at her with closed fists in the presence of colleagues.
• After this incident, McInnis was advised that she would be placed in an administrative role and that they were investigating her police work which included a complaint that she had written a date down wrong in a memo book.
• McInnis reported the misconduct to supervisors (e.g., Det.-Sgt. Laurie Jackson) who either sanctioned Morris’s sexual misconduct, told her to “suck it up”, or initiated/threatened reprisals against her.
• She handed over evidence against Morris contained in text chats to the Toronto police professional standards unit. They docked her eight hours’ pay for occasionally responding to or acknowledging messages and failing to report them sooner.
• McInnis reported that sometimes she felt pressured to respond positively to Morris’ behaviour “in order to fit into the culture of 14 Division and maintain working relationships.”
• In an in-division police hearing Morris admitted to sending her explicit images, including photos of his penis. He was docked eight hours pay.
• She has submitted a human rights complaint against the Toronto police service board, police Chief Mark Saunders and specific officers, and Morris, which is ongoing.
• She requested that the toronto police union pay for her fees, they stated that they typically do not cover costs for human rights tribunal, only internal discipline and professional misconduct charges, and some criminal matters.

Waterloo Constables Angelina “Angie” Rivers alleges sexual harassment, bullying, and gender-based discrimination within the Waterloo force.

• Officers would spread false rumours about her leading to unwanted sexual advances, would disparage her to colleagues and superiors, and would ignore/refuse to acknowledge her presence at work.
• Rivers’ competence was allegedly questioned due to her being a “girl”.
• Rivers had to report to Sgt. Cardoza, who texted her at midnight once asking about a rumour about her having an intimate relationship with a male officer and said he was “totally insulted cause [she] could had [him]!!!” and went on to say he was “naked and drunk”, and asked her to send him nudes. Cardoza was given an unspecified punishment for discreditable conduct due to his unwelcome inappropriate sexual advances towards Rivers but was allowed to keep his position and continued to supervise her.
• Officers allegedly refused to provide backup to Rivers during dangerous calls.

Attempts to hold perpetrators accountable:

• After reporting the rumors officers were spreading about her to Cardoza, he took no action and told her if she pursued these complaints further she could “seriously jeopardize her career”.
• After making this complaint she started being much more micromanaged than previously, resulting in superiors asking for her to account for every minute she spent at work. For instance, her superior asked her to justify why she was spending longer in the washroom than usual: she had to explain that she was on her menstrual cycle, furthering the humiliation and degradation she was already experiencing.
• After reporting her safety concerns to her superiors, some officers allegedly told her she should be careful about how she treated people or she would get her “ass kicked”.
• After reporting the sexual harassment she was moved to a remote undesirable position against her will, allegedly as retaliation for making the complaint. In an effort to escape from the harassment and isolation, she applied and was accepted to a different team, however, she was still put under the management of Cardoza even though he had already been convicted for discreditable conduct for sexually harassing her. She alleges the micromanaging, social and physical isolation, and sexually inappropriate texts messages from Cardoza continued.
• She also was charged with discreditable conduct for going into the house of a 5-year-old to let them stay warm, use the washroom, and get something to eat before family and children’s service arrived. The child was in distress as their mother had just been arrested. They charged her for not having the authority to go into the house. She believes this was in retaliation for filing a complaint.
• She was later demoted (in front of colleagues) to being a patrol officer by Staff Sgt. Lobsinger for a scratch on her police car (that had been immediately repaired), a verbal reprimand about inquiring about the organization of a mentor’s notes, and her failure to locate certain shotguns at a crime scene (even though her supervisor Cardoza who was also there was not reprimanded). Lobsinger later admitted that he tried to protect Cardoza and had accepted Cardoza’s allegations about Rivers’ work performance without any further investigation. He was found to have been biased in his assessment of Rivers due to the sexism entrenched in the police force and that Cardoza exaggerated the extent of Rivers’ errors.
• The Waterloo Police Services hired a lawyer to investigate her claims which found that Cardoza was not a credible witness, Lobsinger’s evidence was unreliable, and that Rivers’ errors were amplified in a way that set her up to fail no matter what she did. Despite this evidence, Cardoza and Lobsinger were allowed to remain in their positions.
• Rivers has tried to report the misconduct to her union, human resources, the ministry of labour, and OCPC. She filed a class action lawsuit with two others, but the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that it did not fall under their jurisdiction. Human resources concluded their internal investigation in 2016 but has not provided her with the results despite multiple requests. She filed a Human Rights Tribunal complaint in 2016 which is ongoing. After 5 years of reporting this misconduct she has not made progress and is out thousands of dollars.

Waterloo Constable Sharon Zehr alleges decades of sexual harassment, bullying, gender-based discrimination, and active assaults against her within the Waterloo force (1988–2013).

• On her first day of work as a cadet she was allegedly told by two male officers that they did not want women on the force and it was up to them “to get the women out”.
• Const. Brian Voegtle allegedly repeatedly yelled in front of others “free fucking” after he found out that Zehr took birth control for abdominal pain. This resulted in increased unwanted sexual advances and inappropriate comments directed towards Zehr.
• Const. Dave Ely (who she was paired with) allegedly drove her to a remote dark area and asked her for a “blow-job”.
• Const. Peter Hood and other officers routinely made degrading and insulting comments about her (e.g., “bitch” and “slut”).
• Const. Stephen Beckett (now assistant deputy-minister in the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services) and Const. George Prine set fireworks off near her. Beckett also rear-ended her at a red-light while smiling and waving at her.
• Other instances of harassment include a male officer putting his fist through her sandwich that was on a table in front of her, an officer(s) putting her police hat in the work vending machine, and an officer taking her gas card impeding her from refueling her cruiser.
• Zehr was concerned about her safety and further reprisals so she asked for a transfer instead of trying to report most of these incidents.
• In the new location, they did not provide women with a change room, and made them change in a broom closet with no toilet or running water.
• Her supervisor Sgt. Haines allegedly wrote fictional negative reports about her, such as her refusing to come into work (which Zehr says never happened). When Zehr stated these comments were not true he replied “ya, but I wrote it in my notebook” and to either “quit or get fired”.
• Const. Dalrymple (later became Staff Sgt. and lead of the Emergency Response Unit) allegedly jumped on her at a work party and kissed her, which she felt violated by.
• Const. Rene Kraus allegedly licked her earlobe during a briefing.
• Sgt. Allan Cassidy reached under her top and undid her bikini top while she was helping with a summer cleanup event.
• Const. Michael Mooney, Jeff Rumble, and three other officers attempted to drag her into the men’s change room. She grabbed onto the doorframe and pleaded to be let free, which they did only after a Staff Sgt. ordered them to stop.
• Zehr left the force in 1991 and later became an investigator at the Eaton Centre. However, whenever she made an arrest she had to work with the WRPS who would continue to harass her and make degrading comments towards her on these occasions, such as comments saying she couldn’t hold down a job.
• From 1994–1997 she worked at Conestoga College in the Law & Security Administration Program. Numerous officers visited the program such as Bryan Larkin (currently the Police Chief WRPS) and Const. Dave Mann. Some officers made further derogatory comments towards her.
• In 2004 she became a Special Const. at Wilfrid Laurier University, which required her to complete training at the WRPS, where again she was exposed to another wave of sexual harassment and abuse.
• In 2008 she became the Residential Program Manager at a shelter for victims of domestic violence. She again had to work alongside WRPS for portions of her job. At one event, Deputy Chief Mike Mann and Police Services Board Chair Ken Seiling made derogatory comments about her length of employment and laughed loudly at her.
• In June 2010, two WRPS officers, Staff Sgt. Gregory Lamport and Dave Obermeyer, were added to her board. Lamport (later promoted to Inspector) was known to give out a “homo of the year” award to officers he believe to act femininely or gay. Due to this and her long history of harassment from WRPS officer Zehr left her position.
• While at the gym 2013, a Wilfrid Laurier University Special Const. Dennis Willfang who also attended the gym tried to hit her on the head with a set of dumbbells.
• Due to safety concerns, in 2015 Zehr sold her house and moved out of the Waterloo region entirely.

Attempts to report the misconduct:

• Zehr reported Ely—the officer who drove her to a remote location and asked for a blow-job—to her training officer, but he was never reprimanded or disciplined. She was continued to be paired with Ely resulting in further sexual harassment.
• While she was still an officer at the WRPS, she reported the discrimination and sexual harassment to her WRPS representative. Zehr alleges that they said that they would not address these issues because it would be too costly to take any action.
• In 2006 she filed a complaint to the Human Right Tribunal of Ontario with two other female offers and entered into a settlement with Wilfrid Laurier University. However, the abuse continued and she left her position there.
• She was advised to make a police report to the WRPS about the Willfang assault, which she did. Despite attempting to follow-up with WRPS they have not provided any update on the investigation.
• She filed a class action lawsuit with two others, but the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that it did not fall under their jurisdiction.

Cobourg Constable Amy Matthijsse alleges sexual harassment, workplace harassment, discrimination at in her police department.

• An officer allegedly assaulted her at a party.
• A Sergeant allegedly told her that she was in his “spank bank” and would talk about her breasts.
• A Staff Sergeant allegedly told her he could slap her upside her head for getting pregnant and ruining all the hard work she had done to progress her career.
• On return from maternity leave she was allegedly told that she just had a “9 month holiday” so she wasn’t entitled to any on return.
• Deputy Chief Paul VandeGraaf ordered her staff Sergeant to advise her that her son’s injury (was hospitalized due to a knife penetrating his eye) did not constitute her time off.

Attempts to report misconduct:

• She filed a formal complaint with the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) in 2017.
• After reporting the misconduct she was charged with 19 offences related to wilfully or negligently making a false complaint or statement against any member of a police force and was suspended due to these charges. OCPC has since dropped all of the charges against Matthijsse after saying they may have been retaliatory in nature.

Middlesex Anonymous Officer was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a fellow officer (2010–2011).

• During a work trip, the victim was in her private room sleeping. Det. Sgt. Todd Amlin broke into her room by gaining access to a separate officer’s room that shared a bathroom with her room. The victim woke up to Amlin pinning her face-down and “dry-humping” her. She didn’t know who it was until Amlin let her go. He then walked out her room laughing and telling another officer what he did. Amlin reports that he was drinking and doesn’t remember what happened.
• At a Christmas party, the victim bent over to tie her shoe lace. Amlin alleges she flicked his penis while she was bent over (she denies this detail). In front of a group of colleagues, Amlin then grabbed her head and pulled it towards his genitals, he did not let go of her until she pinched his scrotum. Their colleagues laughed, while at least one officer reported that she appeared very upset.
• On two other occasions Almin slapped her on her butt at crime scenes saying “good game” or “good job”.

Investigations into the sexual assaults:

• Amlin was charged in 2018 with four counts of sexual assault after an investigation by the SIU. He was offered a plea deal in 2019 to plead guilty to one count of assault, which granted him conditional discharge and no criminal record.
• Amlin is currently charged with discreditable conduct and is facing demotion to first-class constable for four years, the decision rests with an adjudicator (an ex-cop). Thirty reference letters were submitted for consideration, many from fellow police officers, which blamed both Amlin and the victim for child-like, locker room-type behaviour. Amlin’s lawyer stated that he believes the punishment would be too harsh and should be reduced. The case is ongoing.
• The victim has retired from policing.

If somehow you still aren’t convinced that there is rampant unfettered misconduct and unethical behaviour going on in our police departments then I recommend reading my other articles on how Canada’s police protect themselves from accountability here and how the Toronto police union presidents have long histories of misconduct here.