Deceit cited by Brandon police in lawsuit

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This article was published 11/02/2021 (1866 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — Brandon police asked a woman to withdraw from a hiring competition not because of the existence of her intimate images, but because of deceitfulness, court heard Wednesday.

Brandon Police Service Staff Sgt. Marc Alain testified during the third day of Brittany Roque’s civil lawsuit against Terry Lynn Peters for sharing her intimate images without consent.

The City of Brandon is a third party in the lawsuit, which is being heard by Justice Sandra Zinchuk.

According to an agreed-upon statement of facts, Peters shared the images with BPS executives after she found them in the private email of then-partner Ryan Friesen, who is a BPS officer. On Monday, court heard Roque and Friesen had an affair in 2015.

At the time the images were shared, Roque was in the middle of a hiring competition to become a BPS officer.

Alain, who was called to testify by City of Brandon lawyer Annika Friesen, was responsible for co-ordinating the 2016 hiring competition of which Roque was a part.

In an initial August 2016 interview, Alain said Roque didn’t disclose she had an affair or sent such images to Ryan Friesen. Part of the interview process is a questionnaire to determine if there is anything in a candidate’s past they could be blackmailed for, but Roque didn’t disclose it in the document either, he said.

In March 2017, during a followup interview, Roque disclosed the affair to Alain — after Peters had distributed her intimate images to BPS senior executives. Court heard Tuesday that Peters had also sent Roque text messages saying she had found her nude images, which distressed the plaintiff.

Rhea Majewski, Peters’ lawyer, cross-examined Alain on why a person’s sexual history matters to the police service.

“It’s not so much about the sexual history, it’s about who they’ve been with,” he said. “If you’re involved with a married person, it can be a problem and if it leads to things like blackmail.”

While an officer candidate having an affair isn’t grounds for being disqualified, Alain said, it is something police would investigate further, and could speak to someone’s morality.

In March 2017, police spoke to a psychologist about Roque not initially disclosing the affair. Alain testified the professional believed Roque was being deceitful, which is grounds for being removed from the hiring competition.

“As a result, rather than have her removed from the process, I gave her the form where she could withdraw,” said Alain.

Under Wednesday morning cross-examination by Roque’s lawyer, Kevin Toyne, Peters said she believed the fact Roque had sent intimate images to a police officer was a relevant factor in the hiring process.

Peters disagreed, however, with Toyne’s suggestion she found it “offensive” Roque could potentially become a police officer.

“I think it’s hypocritical for somebody to partake in the action, and then expect other people to abide by what they themselves cannot,” she said.

The trial continues today.

— Brandon Sun