Toronto police officer accused of sexually assaulting tee.
A bail hearing Tuesday morning for a rookie Toronto police constable accused of sexually assaulting one teenage boy and having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a second was put over for a day after the officer appeared briefly in court at Old City Hall.
Constable Brandon Fraser, 24, had graduated as a police officer just 10 weeks earlier – one day after Sgt. Ryan Russell was killed on Jan. 12. by a man allegedly driving a stolen snowplow.
Since then, he has been serving as a fourth-class constable at Scarborough's 42 Division.
Constable Fraser is charged with one count each of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and sexual interference.
He was arrested Monday night and had been under investigation for about two weeks after a complaint by someone who knows one of the boys, a police source said.
"We were contacted by someone who said,.'I think there's an issue,'" the source said.
It's alleged the constable sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy between January, 2009, and May, 2009, and that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy between September, 2010, and March, 2011.
Although a 16-year-old can legally consent to sex with an adult, such relationships are proscribed if the adult is in a position of authority.
Detectives believe there may be other alleged victims; if so, detectives are anxious to hear from them.
At his brief court hearing Tuesday, Constable Fraser was represented by lawyer Gary Clewley, who frequently acts on behalf of members of the Toronto Police Association.
He will appear in court again Wednesday, by which time Mr. Clewley is expected to have secured sureties willing to post bail for the accused.
"This is exactly the way anyone would be treated; the fact that he's a police officer is irrelevant," police spokesman Mark Pugash said of Constable Fraser.
Asked how the officer had apparently been able to satisfy the exhaustive background process all recruits undergo, Mr. Pugash said that question is already under scrutiny.
"In addition to the investigation and the criminal charges, one of the things we're going to be taking apart is the hiring process, we want to find out exactly what happened," he said.
"Whether indeed this slipped through the cracks, or whether it didn't, we want to find out. If it did happen, we want to know why, and if there's a problem we'll fix it. These are very serious criminal charges."
Outside the courthouse, Mr. Clewley stressed that his client's difficulties do not involve his work as a police officer.
"The allegations are that he had an improper relationships (with people) he met through the Internet, not through the job," Mr. Clewley told reporters.
"He is presumed innocent as is everyone else before the courts until proven otherwise. He is devastated, he is in a jail cell and he is a police officer."
In an unrelated incident, meanwhile, a Toronto constable has been charged with careless use of a firearm.
Constable Robert Harris, 27, a member of the service for two years and seven months and attached to 31 Division in the city's northwest end, was arrested following an incident late Sunday night.
Constable Harris and colleagues were trying to arrest a man for dangerous driving when it's alleged the constable fired two rounds at the suspect vehicle. There were no injuries.
Constable Brandon Fraser, 24, had graduated as a police officer just 10 weeks earlier – one day after Sgt. Ryan Russell was killed on Jan. 12. by a man allegedly driving a stolen snowplow.
Since then, he has been serving as a fourth-class constable at Scarborough's 42 Division.
Constable Fraser is charged with one count each of sexual assault, sexual exploitation and sexual interference.
He was arrested Monday night and had been under investigation for about two weeks after a complaint by someone who knows one of the boys, a police source said.
"We were contacted by someone who said,.'I think there's an issue,'" the source said.
It's alleged the constable sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy between January, 2009, and May, 2009, and that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy between September, 2010, and March, 2011.
Although a 16-year-old can legally consent to sex with an adult, such relationships are proscribed if the adult is in a position of authority.
Detectives believe there may be other alleged victims; if so, detectives are anxious to hear from them.
At his brief court hearing Tuesday, Constable Fraser was represented by lawyer Gary Clewley, who frequently acts on behalf of members of the Toronto Police Association.
He will appear in court again Wednesday, by which time Mr. Clewley is expected to have secured sureties willing to post bail for the accused.
"This is exactly the way anyone would be treated; the fact that he's a police officer is irrelevant," police spokesman Mark Pugash said of Constable Fraser.
Asked how the officer had apparently been able to satisfy the exhaustive background process all recruits undergo, Mr. Pugash said that question is already under scrutiny.
"In addition to the investigation and the criminal charges, one of the things we're going to be taking apart is the hiring process, we want to find out exactly what happened," he said.
"Whether indeed this slipped through the cracks, or whether it didn't, we want to find out. If it did happen, we want to know why, and if there's a problem we'll fix it. These are very serious criminal charges."
Outside the courthouse, Mr. Clewley stressed that his client's difficulties do not involve his work as a police officer.
"The allegations are that he had an improper relationships (with people) he met through the Internet, not through the job," Mr. Clewley told reporters.
"He is presumed innocent as is everyone else before the courts until proven otherwise. He is devastated, he is in a jail cell and he is a police officer."
In an unrelated incident, meanwhile, a Toronto constable has been charged with careless use of a firearm.
Constable Robert Harris, 27, a member of the service for two years and seven months and attached to 31 Division in the city's northwest end, was arrested following an incident late Sunday night.
Constable Harris and colleagues were trying to arrest a man for dangerous driving when it's alleged the constable fired two rounds at the suspect vehicle. There were no injuries.
