Lawyer Lynn Moore says she’s identified at least three RNC officers who are accused by her clients of raping the women after they were offered rides home from downtown bars.Paul Daly/The Globe and Mail
A lawyer representing eight women has launched a lawsuit against the Newfoundland and Labrador government, alleging a series of sexual assaults by on-duty police officers that she says was like sharks circling prey in St. John’s bar district.
The civil suit is the latest fallout from a scandal that has rocked the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, the oldest law-enforcement agency in North America.
A flood of complaints against the provincial police force have emerged since the conviction last May of Doug Snelgrove, an on-duty RNC officer found guilty of raping a 21-year-old community-college student after he offered her a ride home from a bar in 2015.
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Lynn Moore, the lawyer who has filed the legal action, says she’s identified at least three officers who are accused by her clients of raping the women after they were offered rides home from downtown bars. None of the officers are believed to still be employed by the provincial police, she said, although some of the women have had trouble identifying their assailants.
Mr. Snelgrove, who has been suspended by the RNC pending his appeal, is one of the officers accused by the women, she said. Many of the women who shared their stories with her say they never filed police reports, and were moved to contact the lawyer after the officer’s high-profile trial.
The sexual assaults took place over several decades, and involve alleged victims ranging in age from 22 to 44, she said. One of them was a female police officer, Ms. Moore said.
“I believe these police officers were on the hunt for victims,” she said. “I also believe there are other women out there who were also assaulted, who don’t have the status of these women or the agency to come forward, and I haven’t heard from them.”
The lawyer has also filed Jane Doe applications that would protect the women’s identities, which in Newfoundland requires that each one undergo an evaluation by an expert before a ban on their names can be imposed.
Ms. Moore said that requirement is “needlessly retraumatizing these women,” and is calling for legislative changes to put civil cases on a similar footing as criminal cases, where publication bans to protect victims are easier to obtain.
“In Newfoundland, we don’t have the kind of provision that allows me to just go to court and say, ‘I want a publication ban,’ ” Ms. Moore said. “The process of getting that order involves a retelling of what happened to them before they even begin, which in some cases forces them to relive the trauma.”
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The RNC, which is a branch of the provincial government, declined to comment on the lawsuit, but has said that any allegation of criminal activity against its officers will be investigated thoroughly. The province’s independent police watchdog says it’s investigating three RNC officers, two of whom are retired.
The provincial government also said it couldn’t comment on an active lawsuit. One statement of claim has already been filed; Ms. Moore says another one is coming once the Jane Doe applications have been processed.
“The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador can confirm it has been served with a Statement of Claim by one person alleging they were assaulted by an RNC officer. As this matter is before the Court, the Province will not be making comment,” Lesley Clarke, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice and Public Safety, said in an e-mail.
Under Newfoundland law, someone who is suing another person for sharing their intimate images gets the Jane Doe pseudonym – a protection not automatically granted in cases of alleged rape.
“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Ms. Moore said. “I’ve spoken to cabinet ministers about this, and said ‘If you really want to do something about sexual assaults, here’s something you can change,’ and they all nod and smile and then nothing happens.”
Requests for anonymity in cases seeking compensation for sexual abuse and sexual assault are common in Canada. In Newfoundland, a person needs to demonstrate to the court that more than mere embarrassment is at stake, said Geoff Budden, a St. John’s lawyer who has represented victims of the Mount Cashel boys orphanage abuse scandal and whose firm was counsel in a landmark decision on the issue.
For the orders to be granted, the court must be persuaded that the plaintiff’s health and well-being are at risk if they’re named in the litigation, he said.
“It isn’t that, as survivors, they have anything to be ashamed of, of course, it is more a matter of preserving their privacy and ability to actually come forward in the face of the personal exposure … that inevitably comes with litigation,” Mr. Budden said.
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