| durhamregion.com | This Week | Thursday, December 1, 2022 | | 20 A police oversight agency has cleared a Durham police officer accused of sexually assaulting a suspect in a drug investigation, finding the complaint lacked credibility. It is unlikely the officer would have sexually touched a suspect he knew to be armed and suspicious, Special Investigations Unit Director Joseph Martino said in a recently- released decision. Martino concluded there were no grounds to pursue criminal charges against the officer, who was not named in the report. "I find it hard to believe that the (officer) would risk provoking an altercation with the complainant in the vehicle by assaulting him, knowing that he was armed," Martino commented. The SIU investigates incidents of serious injury or death and allegations of sexual assault involving police officers. The agency began an investigation after being informed of the allegations in May of this year. The SIU report says that the officer was working an undercover drug investigation in Oshawa at the time of the incident. "The operation was part of a wider effort by the (Durham police) to combat the trafficking of fentanyl in downtown Oshawa," Martino wrote. "The officer made plans over the phone to meet with the complainant in order to purchase fentanyl." The two met and the officer drove the suspect to a location where the man sold drugs to a person who walked up to the car, the report notes. Thereafter, the suspect sold fentanyl to the officer. At that point, the officer called in his colleagues and the suspect was arrested, the report says. While in custody, the suspect alleged he had been sexually assaulted. "The complainant asserts that at one point, prior to the exchange of drugs and money, the (officer) reached over and grabbed his penis over his jeans. Reportedly, the gesture was done to reassure the complainant that the (cop) was not a police officer," the report says. The officer denied any sexual touching took place, according to the report. "The (officer) says he offered to let the complainant touch his penis to allay the complainant concerns that he was a police officer, but says he never touched, nor offered to touch, the complainant's penis," Martino wrote. The SIU concluded the suspect's claim of having been assaulted was not reliable. Factoring in to the finding was evidence that the suspect carried a gun - when he was arrested, he was in possession of a pistol - and had been overheard worrying he may be targeted by undercover police, the decision notes. "The obstacle to charges, in this case, relates to the trustworthiness of the incriminating evidence," the report says. "I accept the (officer's) evidence that the complainant was armed with a firearm, which he displayed to the officer on multiple occasions in a threatening fashion." "On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the (officer) committed a criminal offence in connection with the allegation," the report concludes. SIU CLEARS OFFICER ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING SUSPECT A photo of a gun seized when Durham police arrested a suspect in a drug investigation in May of 2022. An investigation by the Special Investigations Unit found allegations of sexual assault made by a suspect in the case to be unfounded. Special Investigations Unit photo JEFF MITCHELL jmitchell@ durhamregion.com NEWS