Police watchdog clears Brandon officer who destroyed images in 'revenge porn' case

Manitoba's police watchdog says no charges should be laid against a Brandon police officer who destroyed a thumb drive of images that were part of a "revenge porn" case.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba released a report on Wednesday saying it has concluded its probe and is not satisfied that "reasonable and probable grounds" exist to warrant charges under the Criminal Code.

In a lawsuit filed in November 2017, Brittany Roque, a police officer in the community of Rivers, Man., says she sent intimate images of herself to Ryan Friesen, a Brandon police officer, during a brief romantic relationship in 2015.

The lawsuit alleges another woman who had a relationship with Friesen, Terri-Lyn Peters, found the intimate images on Friesen's computer, made copies of them, and then distributed them to a member of the Brandon Police Service, where Roque was applying for a job.

She was eventually removed from consideration for the job, according to the IIU report.

Roque later filed a complaint to the BPS that intimate images had been distributed without her consent and used to disqualify her from the job. She also alleged the officer who received and viewed the images destroyed the thumb drive containing them just as she was in the process of making her formal complaint. 

The IIU said it was made aware of the complaint in July 2017 and launched an investigation into whether the officer who received, viewed and handled the images had committed a criminal offence.

In his final report, IIU director Zane Tessler cleared him, citing the officer's need to serve the public good by vetting police prospects carefully. 

"The hiring process for a police officer, including determining the suitability of such a public servant to be held to very high standards, fits within the definition of 'public good,'" Tessler wrote. 

Although the IIU investigation was complete in January 2018, other connected proceedings were ongoing, in particular an RCMP investigation about the alleged distribution of intimate images and the conduct of Peters, Tessler's report states.

That was a separate and distinct investigation from the IIU's, which concerned itself only with the conduct of BPS officers and the destruction of a thumb drive containing the images.

The IIU held off publishing its report until those proceedings had been completed.

RCMP spokeswoman Tara Seel told CBC News that no charges have been laid against anyone as a result of their investigation, either.

Damages, destruction order sought 

Roque's lawsuit refers to the situation as a case of "revenge porn" and seeks damages from Friesen and Peters, and asks the court to order anyone who has copies of the intimate images to destroy them.

In his own court documents, Friesen claims he thought he deleted all of the intimate images of Roque but that a few of them had been unintentionally saved in his personal online email account.

He alleges Peters "hacked into the account using her own personal computer and took the intimate images of Roque." 

Peters has since denied the allegations and has filed a third-party claim alleging the images were in fact sent by Friesen and another man, Devon LeBlanc.

Peters' lawyer optimistic

When reached for comment about the IIU's report, Peters' lawyer Rhea Majewski said she believes it supports the main thrust of her client's defence.

"We are hopeful this will conclude the matter but if it proceeds to trial we're optimistic the court will find along the same lines of this report and clear Ms. Peters of any wrongdoing," Majewski said in an email.

None of the allegations has been proven in court and no trial dates for the lawsuit have been set, according to court records. 

In his defence statement to the accusations against him by Peters, LeBlanc denies distributing the intimate images and denies having them in his possession.