Three Canadian police officers were arrested in Spain over an alleged sexual assault of a sex worker in Barcelona, Toronto’s police force confirmed.
The three officers — identified by Canadian outlets as Evan Glennie, Rich Rand and Caglar Yigit — where arrested by Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra police force last week. The officers stand accused of sexually assaulting a sex worker inside a taxi while they were vacationing in Spain off duty. Per Canada’s Global news, one of the officers was suspended from the police force when he arrived in Canada, and the other two are expected to also be suspended when they return to their country.
All three officers, however, will reportedly still be paid during their suspension.
“The allegations are serious. On arrival in Canada, one officer was suspended from duty as authorized by the Chief of Police in accordance with the Community Safety and Policing Act,” a Toronto police spokesperson told Global News. “The two other officers will also be suspended upon their return to Canada in the coming days.”
“At a time when public confidence must be continually reinforced, people also need to see visible leadership and a clear commitment to strengthening the culture and standards of the Service,” Councilor Shelley Carroll of the Toronto Police Services Board said in a statement. “I expect the Chief and Service leadership to demonstrate the actions necessary to maintain the trust the public places in the Service.”
Speaking during an official event on Tuesday, Toronto’s Mayor Olivia Chow referred to the ongoing case against the three officers and said, “If anyone is found guilty of charges, serious allegations, sexual assaults, they should be punished.” She said that it would not be appropriate for her to comment on the details of the case, as the matter is “right not in front of the courts.”
The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports that the alleged sexual assault incident occurred on the early morning hours of May 13 at Barcelona’s Ciutat Vella district. According to testimonies from the unnamed sex worker, the three off-duty Canadian police officers boarded a taxi with her and assaulted her after she refused to have sex with the group and asked the taxi driver to return her to where she was picked up at.
She reportedly detailed that one of the officers sexually assaulted her, while another puncher her face after she resisted, causing a wound near her eyebrow. The third officer, she affirmed, was seated at the taxi’s co-pilot seat.
Per El Mundo, local plainclothes policers officers saw the woman calling for help from inside the vehicle as the taxi passed through Barcelona’s beach area. The woman would then receive medical attention. Two of the Canadian police offers were apprehended in Barcelona, while the third one, while the third one — who is presumed to be the one that punched her in the face — fled but was eventually arrested on Friday in Palma de Mallorca.
One of the officers arrested in Barcelona has been with sexual assault without penetration and remains in custody after appearing in court on Friday. The other officer arrested at the Catalonian capital was released but is charged with resisting law enforcement officers.
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