Former Waterloo Regional Police sergeant found not guilty of sexual assault

A former Waterloo Regional Police officer has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in 2010.

The Crown had alleged Sgt. Caleb Roy, 55, sexually assaulted her in his friend’s Toronto condo. Roy said it was consensual sex.

On Friday, Justice Katherine Corrick found Roy not guilty.

“After considering (her) and Mr. Roy’s evidence in the context of all of the evidence, I am not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Roy sexually assaulted (her) and I therefore find him not guilty,” the judge said.

A court order bans publication of any information that could identify the woman.

Roy was an off-duty sergeant at the time. At the end of last year, he retired “after 30 years and one month of service, as he had always intended to do,” defence lawyer Harry Black said in an email to the Record. “His decision to retire had nothing to do with the case.”

At the trial in Toronto, Roy testified he was tired and went to sleep in the only bedroom in the condo. He said the woman came in, took off her clothes and initiated sexual intercourse.

The woman alleged Roy pushed her into the bedroom and raped her.

Roy’s friend, a Toronto police officer, was in the small condo at the time and testified he did not hear or see anything that would suggest Roy sexually assaulted the woman.

Crown prosecutor Katherine Beaudoin said the friend’s testimony can’t be trusted because his loyalty is to Roy.

“In other words, Ms. Beaudoin submits that (Roy’s friend) perjured himself before me to help a friend who he knows sexually assaulted a woman in his home,” the judge said. “I reject that submission.”

Corrick said she found the friend to be a credible witness.

“His evidence supported the evidence of Mr. Roy about what happened in his apartment that night,” the judge said.

Black, Roy’s defence lawyer, asked in closing arguments why Roy would choose the home of a close friend and a police officer to commit a sexual assault.

“It is a story that makes no sense,” Black said. “It is completely implausible.”

Roy was suspended with pay after being charged by the Special Investigations Unit in 2018.

Black noted that after the alleged attack, the woman did not flee and did not call the police or an Uber. The Crown said it’s impossible to predict how a sexual assault victim might react.

The woman suggested in an interview with the SIU that she put on her clothes after the alleged attack and fell asleep in the bed with Roy, Black said. At trial, she said she lay on the bed but did not fall asleep.

The woman said Roy drove her home in the morning after the alleged attack. She said he insinuated he could help her look for a job if they had a relationship. Roy denied making the insinuation. They had a sexual relationship for months after the alleged assault.

The judge said she had a concern about the woman’s credibility.

”My concern arises out of the inconsistencies in her evidence about the relationship and the fact that she attempts to minimize it and distance herself from Mr. Roy,” Corrick said. “(She) was also evasive about other events that I would expect that she would remember.”

The judge ruled the Crown failed to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

“Cases such as this where two people give opposing versions of an event are the most difficult cases for a trial judge to assess,” Corrick said.

“No one, other than (the woman) and Mr. Roy, knows for certain what went on in that bedroom that night.”

Original Resource: https://www.caledonenterprise.com/news-story/10324911-update-former-waterloo-regional-police-sergeant-found-not-guilty-of-sexual-assault/