Despite his wacky version, a police officer accused of sexually assaulting a woman after freeing her was still acquitted.
“No doubt that [la plaignante] had a bad experience. However, his version of the facts is not sufficiently reliable to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt. [au crime sexuel] “Said Judge Lori Renée Weitzman, before acquitting Roger Fréchette on Wednesday, at the Montreal courthouse.
Fréchette, 57, is a 30-year-old police officer in Montreal. But that didn’t stop him from making questionable decisions in February 2019, when he had to deal with the case of an intoxicated Ontario tourist who was arrested.
On several occasions, Fréchette ogled her while she was naked in the cell. And after having released her, he brought her back to the hotel under the pretext of having “time to waste”.
” Without a doubt [son expérience] had to make him understand that it was, at the very least, a very bad idea, ”said the magistrate.
Reasonable doubt
It was in the bedroom that he allegedly assaulted her by touching her, according to the complainant. The accused had for his part invented a version in which he claimed to be a victim, without success.
“His story is so crazy that the court dismisses it entirely,” ruled the judge.
But that was not enough to convict the police officer, since the complainant’s version was not believed either, due among other things to contradictions, lack of precision on certain details and an important oversight on one of the touches.
“After having analyzed all the evidence, the court is unable to say what happened in the hotel room”, concluded Judge Weitzman, thereby acquitting Fréchette.
The latter, who was the first SPVM police officer accused following a file from the Bureau of Independent Investigations, declined to comment.