Ex-exotic dancer continues legal fight

Woman says cops botched investigation into alleged sexual and physical assaults

The NRP’S professional standards unit investigation cleared the officers of misconduct in November 2021

A woman is continuing her legal battle with law enforcement 14 months after Niagara Regional Police officers were cleared of botching their investigation into reports that she was sexually and physically assaulted while working at a Niagara strip club in the summer of 2020.

The woman — she was granted a publication ban to protect her identity during a Superior Court of Justice Divisional Court hearing two weeks ago — is pursuing a judicial review of a March 18, 2022 decision by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) after the civilian oversight agency sided with the NRP’S professional standards unit and cleared several police officers of misconduct allegations against them related to their investigation.

Although OIPRD determined there were reasonable grounds to believe two officers committed misconduct by failing to inform the woman on how to secure forensic evidence or obtain a sexual assault evidence kit and did not refer her to victim services, the agency said their actions were of a “less serious” nature.

The alleged incident occurred Aug. 22, 2020, when the woman said a customer sexually assaulted her as she was working as an exotic dancer. The woman said she was then injured as she was forcibly removed from the premises by an unlicensed security guard.

In February 2021, seven months after the incident, the woman said an NRP officer advised her that no charges would be laid related to the sexual assault and the investigation would be suspended. Three months after that, she was informed no charges would be laid related to the alleged physical assault by the security guard, either.

After the NRP’S professional standards unit investigation cleared the officers of misconduct in November 2021, the woman filed a

complaint with OIPRD alleging police neglected their duties and were dismissive of her allegations, believing the sexual assault was the result of a “deal gone bad,” court documents said.

Although the woman also requested the investigations be reopened, OIPRD said that was beyond the scope of a Police Services Act investigation.

In its ruling regarding the publication ban, Superior Court of Justice Divisional Court said the woman used a stage name to protect her identity while working as an exotic dancer because of the stigma associated with the work.

She was a student at the time of the incident, but had to discontinue her studies due to post-traumatic stress disorder she suffered, it said.

“She fears that the disclosure of her identity would negatively impact her prospects,” the court ruling said, adding she also fears “reprisal from her former employer from whom she experienced harassment, abuse and exploitation ‘even before the incident.’”

The court ruling said the “benefits of an order protecting the applicant’s identity outweigh the negative effects,” and the harm caused by a publication ban was minimal because “media are still able to be present at a hearing and to report all other facts in the case.”

Although strip clubs were closed throughout much of 2020 due to the COVID -19 pandemic, some of the facilities were permitted to reopen in July that year, operating in covered patios.