Detectives took 4 years to arrest accused rapist even though he was in contact with police, lawsuit alleges

Calgary police took four years to arrest a man wanted on warrants for sexual assault despite the fact that he contacted police himself a year later and continued to live in the same home where the alleged rape took place, according to a lawsuit which blames that delay for the charge eventually being dropped.

The $240,000 lawsuit was filed by Teliesha Rennalls, the victim of the alleged assault. She is suing Korku Tettey, the man who was accused of attacking her, as well as a sex crimes unit detective and last two chiefs of police. 

None of the allegations has been proven in court. A statement of defence filed by Korku Tettey denies all of the allegations.

The CPS defendants have applied to have the lawsuit dismissed and have not filed statements of defence. In a written statement, CPS said it could not provide a comment because the case is before the courts.

The timeline

According to the statement of claim, police laid a sexual assault charge in 2009 but did not arrest Tettey until 2014. 

Then in 2017, the charge was stayed "because of the delay in advancing the case by the Calgary Police Service," according to the lawsuit filed by Rennalls' lawyer Pawel Milczarek. 

Rennalls told her story to CBC News with the hope it will "change how police treat certain people." She struggled to hold back tears during the interview. 

"I thought they were supposed to help, serve and protect and they didn't," said Rennalls.

"I feel like they pick and choose who they want to help and they just didn't care enough to help me."

The rape

The details of the alleged sexual assault and police negligence come from the statement of claim.

In May 2009, Rennalls attended a party with a friend. The two were dropped off at Tettey's home and made their way to the basement where they planned to sleep. The woman Rennalls was with was a friend of Tettey's brother, who also lived in the home.

According to the claim, Rennalls was fully clothed when she fell asleep but some time between 3 to 6 a.m. she woke up to find Tettey on top of her.

Her underwear and pants had been pulled down and Tettey was having sex with her.

After yelling and pushing, Tettey got off of Rennalls and she locked herself in a bathroom until he returned upstairs. 

Before Rennalls and her friend left the house, both Tettey and his brother tried to convince her not to go to police, the document claims.

Tettey contacts CPS

The two women took a cab to the Whitehorn LRT station where they found two police officers. Rennalls told them she had just been raped but according to the claim, they told her to go home and call police.

Once there, Rennalls called police, who picked her up and took her to the Sheldon Chumir. She was interviewed and a rape kit was collected. 

Seven months later, in December 2009, a sexual assault charge was laid against Tettey and warrants were issued for his arrest.

The document claims police never even tried to arrest Tettey, who continued to live in the home where the alleged assault took place.

In March 2011, Tettey contacted police on an unrelated matter but despite the active warrant, he was not arrested, according to the statement of claim.

Charge stayed

Finally, more than three years after warrants were issued, Tettey was arrested in January 2014.

The provincial court trial was adjourned after a reelection to the Court of Queen's Bench. Rennalls was told that trial would take place in 2016 but she never received a witness subpoena. 

She eventually learned that a prosecutor stayed Tettey's charge in January 2017, 36 months after he'd been arrested. 

"I thought I would have got my day in court," said Rennalls. "I thought the whole process was moving forward, something was being done, that I would be able to speak my truth and get my voice out there but it didn't happen."

The assigned prosecutor did not respond to a request for his reasons for the stay. 

Rennalls is suing for the emotional and physical trauma suffered, both at the hands of police and Tettey.

"I thought something was being done on my behalf and nothing was," said Rennalls.

"I have to deal with it on my own, it's always in my head, it's always in my mind and I don't know what to do to stop thinking about it, or to get past it, I don't know what to do."