'Unfounded' sex assault cases were 'properly and thoroughly investigated,' says Halton police

The Halton Regional Police Service says all "unfounded" sex assaults from 2016 were "properly and thoroughly investigated."

The announcement comes 10 days after the service announced it would investigate all sex assaults closed as "unfounded" in light of a recent Globe and Mail investigation that revealed one in five claims in Canada were deemed baseless by police investigators. The report said police in Halton dismissed 30 per cent of sex assault claims over a five-year period as "unfounded."

• Hamilton and Halton police dismiss almost 1 in 3 sex assault reports as baseless

Of the 57 cases Halton police reviewed, the force says:

• 15 did not occur or could not have occurred as reported

• 42 were determined through thorough investigation that a criminal offence wasn't committed

They add that in the 42 cases "the required elements to meet the definition of sexual assault were not met."

The force is making changes to the way it investigates sex assault reports — each incident will now be reviewed by the Detective Sergeant of the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit.

The release did not say if cases from other years would be reviewed.

• RCMP says it plans to review 'unfounded' sexual assault cases
• OPP to review about 4,000 sex assault cases deemed 'unfounded' from 2010 to 2014

The RCMP, OPP and several other police forces across Canada have committed to reviewing sex assault reports that were designated as "unfounded."