Brandon accepts liability in nude-photos case

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/07/2022 (1165 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Brandon has decided not to appeal a judge’s ruling that it was liable in a case in which a woman’s intimate images were shared during a Brandon Police Service hiring competition.

Brittany Roque sued Terry Lynn Peters for sharing Roque’s intimate images without her consent. The trial was heard virtually in mid-February 2021, and the City of Brandon is listed as a third party in the lawsuit.

In March, Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sandra Zinchuk found both Peters and the city liable for $45,000 in damages; Peters was liable for aggravated damages of $15,000.

“Criminal investigations, when brought to the courts, must meet a standard of ‘beyond reasonable doubt,’” a Tuesday statement from the City of Brandon reads. The statement was signed by city treasurer and acting city manager Dean Hammond and Brandon Police Service Chief Wayne Balcaen.

“While the City and BPS respect the court’s decision, we remain satisfied that Deputy Chief Randy Lewis acted in good faith and in belief as to best interests of BPS and the residents of Brandon. Deputy Chief Lewis is a highly respected, ethical, and virtuous leader of BPS and a valued member of the community.

“The City of Brandon and BPS did not pursue an appeal on the matter.”

Zinchuk wrote that Lewis had viewed the image without Roque’s consent during the hiring competition. She said people have the right to control who sees intimate images of their body.

“I find that this substantially, and unreasonably violated her privacy,” Zinchuk wrote in the decision, adding Lewis receiving and using the images was “not in the public interest.”

The Independent Investigations Unit of Manitoba probed the case and concluded no charges would be laid against Lewis.

A City of Brandon spokesperson said the police hiring background investigation and waiver form have been modified to align with Manitoba’s Intimate Images Protection Act. Intimate images will not be received or viewed during background investigations “unless criminality is suspected.”

Kevin Toyne, Roque’s lawyer, was unavailable for comment.

According to an agreed statement of facts, the plaintiff, Roque, took and sent intimate photos of herself to Brandon police officer Ryan Friesen during a three-month affair with him in 2015.

Friesen forwarded the images from his cellphone to his email account before deleting them from his phone. He did this so his then-partner, Peters — the defendant — wouldn’t find them.

In May 2016, Roque applied to become a Brandon police officer and was short-listed in August 2017.

In January 2017, although Friesen had deleted the images from his email account, they were still in the trash folder. He also told Peters his email password, so she was able to search the account for evidence of infidelity.

Peters found the images and distributed them to the Brandon police senior executive, while Roque was in the hiring competition.

In March 2017, Roque underwent a polygraph test as part of the hiring process, where she disclosed her past relationship with Friesen.

At the end of the meeting, she was told she could either withdraw from the hiring process, or she would be removed, according to the agreed statement of fact.

Roque declined to withdraw from the competition and subsequently filed complaints with the IIU and the RCMP.

— Brandon Sun