3 cops found not guilty in sexually assault case

Three Toronto police officers have been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a female colleague after a night of partying and drinking.

Leslie Nyznik, Joshua Cabero and Sameer Kara had pleaded not guilty in connection with the alleged incident on Jan. 17, 2015.

Nyznik, the only accused to testify, told court it was the female colleague’s idea to return to a hotel room rented out by two of the accused where she instigated sex with all three men. The woman — a parking enforcement officer whose identity is protected by a publication ban — had testified she had several drinks during the course of the night and felt powerless and unable to move or speak when the three men had sex with her against her wishes. Justice Anne Molloy, who presided over the case, said the case came down to the reliability and credibility of complainant.

She said there were many problems with the complainant’s evidence and found some aspects simply untrue. “Given frailties of evidence I simply cannot be sure to make a finding of criminal guilt,” she said.

The court previously heard that the three officers and a female parking enforcement officer went drinking at two bars and a strip club on the night of January 16, 2015 as part of a “rookie buy night.” The four later ended up at the Westin Harbour Castle, where one of the officers had booked a hotel room. It was there the woman, who cannot be identified under a court-ordered publication ban, alleged the three officers sexually assaulted her.

During the judge-alone trial, Nyznik’s lawyer, Harry Black, suggested that there was no evidence that the woman was drugged and submitted that the complainant initiated consensual sex with the officers.

He accused the woman of making up the allegations because he said she was afraid it would harm her reputation.