Accused leaker of photos points finger at police

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This article was published 27/02/2020 (2079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — A woman accused of leaking intimate photos of a Brandon Police Service candidate to senior members of the force during a hiring competition has filed a claim against the City of Brandon, alleging BPS is “jointly and severely liable” for its involvement in the distribution of the images.

Manitoba Justice Sandra Zinchuk granted a motion last month, allowing Terry Lynn Peters — the defendant in a lawsuit filed in Brandon Court of Queen’s Bench by plaintiff Brittany Roque in 2018 — to file a third-party claim against the city.

The lawsuit alleges Peters distributed intimate images of Roque without her consent as an act of revenge after discovering the photos on her then-partner’s computer.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

According to initial court documents, Roque says she took and sent intimate photos to Ryan Friesen, a BPS officer, during a three-month affair in 2015, under the pretense he would not share the photos and destroy them if the relationship ended.

Peters, a former civilian employee with the BPS, allegedly found the photos and distributed them to senior members of BPS approximately a year later, while Roque was in a hiring competition to become a police officer in Brandon.

Roque is currently a police officer in Rivers.

In the most recent third-party claim filed against Friesen and the City of Brandon, Peters states she discovered “approximately 100 images of women in various states of undress and intimacy” in Friesen’s email, approximately a dozen of which were of Roque.

Having previously worked for BPS and knowing Roque was a candidate for employment with the force, Peters “was aware of a general call to members of the force and the public to provide any information about the character or background of a candidate that might be relevant,” the claim says.

Peters contacted BPS Chief Wayne Balcaen and told him she had information concerning Roque that might be relevant to the hiring process. Deputy chief Randy Lewis arranged to visit Peters’ home and retrieved the images, the claim says, bringing with him a thumb drive to copy the images.

“At all material times, BPS was carrying out a background investigation to determine the fitness of Roque to be an officer in accordance with its duties as a police force,” the claim says. “At all material times, Peters acted in the capacity of a quasi-informant, providing information to BPS and then, upon their request and insistence, providing documents in support of that information.”

— Brandon Sun