‘Highly likely’ Windsor cop harassed complainant but no proof of sexual assault: Judge

File image of a Windsor police uniform. (CTV News Windsor)

A Windsor police officer was found not guilty of sexual assault.

Staff Sgt Ken Price has been acquitted of four counts of sexual assault laid by a complainant who is a former auxiliary officer.

“Relieved,” is how defence lawyer Dan Scott characterized Price’s feelings just moments after Justice Jennifer Myers read her decision.

“The truth of the matter is, had that sort of conduct taken place, someone would have complained,” Scott said.

Justice Myers noted in all four alleged interactions, other officers were nearby.

“Here, it seems that there were so many witnesses who could have corroborated (the victims) account and bolstered the reliability of the Crowns case as a whole,” Justice Myers said Wednesday.

Between 2011 and 2015 the complainant alleged Price touched her inappropriately on four occasions at the training branch for the Windsor Police Service (WPS).

Price was a training officer. The complainant an auxiliary officer at the time.

Justice Myers said while she found Price’s testimony at trial to be “dismissive” of the complainant and at times “self-serving”, she said the complainant’s testimony, at times, lacked “common sense”.

“I’ve found that Mr. Price’s evidence does not raise a reasonable doubt but given the frailties of (the complainants) evidence and the lack of corroborative evidence from the witnesses who would have been in a position to observe, I cannot find Mr. Price guilty.”

In one of her allegations, the complainant said she was helping Price put on body armour used during training scenarios.

She said Price grabbed her wrist, and placed her hand over his crotch where there was no protection from the body armour.

Justice Myers rejected that allegation, saying it was clear body armour would automatically have coverage in the mid-section because of how the top and bottom attach to each other.

In another, the complainant alleged Price grabbed her buttocks in front of another officer.

The judge rejected that complaint as well, ruling there was no way the other officer would have missed the interaction and kept quiet about it as he and the complainant are close friends.

“I’m not finding that (the complainant) lied. I find it highly likely that Mr. Price sexually harassed (the complainant) but that’s not what I’m here to decide,” the judge said. “And even if he likely sexually assaulted her that is not enough for me.”

The judge said the Crown failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

“There’s a 30-day review period with respect to a potential appeal,” Assistant Crown Attorney Nicholas Demontigny told CTV News. “As with any case, the Crown will be considering whether to proceed on that route and as such, the matter is before the courts, and I can’t comment any further at this time.”

Demontigny said the complainant was “not pleased” and “disappointed” by Justice Myers’ decision.

“It was the proper verdict,” President of the Windsor Police Association, Kent Rice said. “We need to adhere to the principles of assumption of innocence until proven guilty and the integrity of the law and how it works for everyone. It’s a process, and nobody is above it.”

Price has been suspended with pay from work since the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) laid the charges in June 2024.

WPS officials say an internal investigation is underway by the Professional Standards Branch, under the Police Services Act.

They won’t say when Price can return to work.