RCMP mishandled teen's sexual assault claim, made arrests without reasonable grounds, watchdog says

Mounties failed to adequately investigate a teen's sexual assault and arrested people without reasonable grounds, according to the civilian watchdog agency that oversees the RCMP.

Those rulings by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP come from the dozens of public complaint investigations concluded by the agency this year that criticized the actions of RCMP officers.

When a complaint is made against the RCMP, Mounties carry out the initial investigation and report back to the complainant. If that individual isn't satisfied with the RCMP's findings, they can turn the case over to the CRCC.

The CRCC has concluded 168 public investigations so far this year. It disagreed with the RCMP's initial findings in almost half of them.

All of the cases posted online are scrubbed of any identifying information; names, locations and dates have been removed.

In one case investigated by the CRCC, an officer arrested an intoxicated 13-year old youth (whose sex was not disclosed) for breach of probation. According to the evidence in the case, the young teen disclosed that they had been sexually assaulted earlier that day, but the arresting RCMP officer took no immediate action and instead put the youth in a police cell overnight.

"Because of the delays in launching the investigation, physical evidence was not preserved. Nonetheless, a full investigation was carried out, resulting in charges and a criminal conviction against the offender," says the CRCC's final decision.