Cop doesn’t seem to be getting the message
Some guys, some leches, you have to hit them over the head with a bag of hammers.
But this guy happened to be a cop.
A Toronto officer, visiting Victoria, B.C., back in November 2017. Const. Michael Fernandes and his wife had been out with friends for dinner and drinks. He admits to having had a snootful.
The group later went to a McDonald’s. Fernandes had to use the washroom but there was a lineup. He struck up a conversation with another woman, not involved with his group. She too had been drinking and had to pee bad. Without warning — this is in an agreed statement of facts — Fernandes kissed her.
Because both men’s and women’s loos were occupied, each returned to their respective tables. Shortly thereafter, Fernandes beckoned to the woman he’d bussed without permission, indicating she should use the men’s washroom, which was now available. Actually, motioned her to join him in the men’s jacks. She followed him in, reluctantly, and stepped into a stall.
A security guard, alerted to a female using the men’s facility, entered. Fernandes allegedly told the guard, “It’s OK, she’s my wife.”
When the woman exited the stall, Fernandes was waiting. He said she kissed him; she says she was non-compliant.
“You used your arm to prevent her exit, stating that she couldn’t leave unless she kissed you,’’ according to the statement of particulars filed at the Toronto Police Service disciplinary hearing. “You then grabbed her and kissed her. The complainant indicated she did not want to be kissed and tried to get past you.”
She rejoined her pals, one of whom called 911.
Not long after, Victoria police stopped Fernandes’s car. He flipped out his police ID. Initially, Fernandes denied any contact with a female but then claimed the woman had “made advances” on him.
The Victoria officers had “reason to believe” Fernandes had committed sexual assault. The Crown prepared a criminal charge but ultimately decided not to pursue the case. And it doesn’t rise to my definition of sexual assault either. But definitely objectionable, definitely disreputable for a man with a badge. The information was sent to Toronto Police Professional Standards.
They hauled Fernandes in for an interview, showed him video surveillance from McDonald’s. He was averse to acknowledging what was clearly visible on the tape.
Upshot: Fernandes was charged with discreditable conduct under the Police Act. He pleaded guilty in December and last month was reduced in rank from first class constable to second class constable — for six months.
“In fairness to him, he wasn’t going to put the young woman through anything,” says his top-drawer lawyer Gary Clewley, of the decision to plead. “She was completely innocent. Intoxicated but innocent.”
But between then and now, between that incident and his sentencing by the tribunal, this happened: Fernandes was charged with four counts of misconduct for allegedly hitting on a bunch of female police cadets.
“You’ve got to be major league stupid,” sighs Clewley, who is representing Fernandes again when the new matter comes back before the tribunal in April. Clewley says his incorrigible client will plead guilty. Again.
Awaiting his original tribunal matter, Fernandes was taken off the street and planted at a desk job in 14 Division. A supervisor thought Fernandes could make better use of his time and sent him for an advanced training course at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer.
On the very day that Fernandes arrived, he was — as per the notice of hearing — sniffing around the female recruits.
According to the allegations, one cadet he met at the loading dock and asked: “Where’s the party?”
Well, it was Monday, a slow night everywhere. But the cadet, D.E., invited Fernandes to sushi dinner with her friends. Catch you later, he said.
Not before, however, having “interactions” with other female cadets. There was A.S., on her way to the library. When she returned to her student residence, Fernandes was still there, hanging around, claiming he couldn’t find the cafeteria. A.S. escorted him there. They kept crossing paths at the residence. “You stated, ‘we keep bumping into each other, it has to mean something.’ ” A.S. would estimate she ran into Fernandes up to a dozen times, more than she’d seen of fellow students over the entire period she was at the college.
Back to Cadet D.E. After the sushi dinner, which Fernandes joined, D.E. went to the student lounge at the college, which is separate from the “experienced” officers lounge. Indeed, a strict policy forbids officers from haunting the cadet lounge and the bartender on duty asked Fernandes to leave. Which he did, though returning later.
When D.E. declined his offer of a drink, Fernandes implied she shouldn’t be there at all if she wasn’t going to imbibe alcohol. He then grabbed another cadet’s phone and tapped in his contact details, then used that phone to call his own so that her number appeared.
This cadet, J.M., excused herself to go to the washroom. Fernandes allegedly followed her into the women’s loo. From inside the bathroom, a very uncomfortable J.M. texted a friend, Cadet J.L. “I’m in the washroom. I told him to leave. He’s trying to make me go back to his room but I said no.”
J.L. responded, according to the notice of hearing: “He’s a f------ creep.”
A word, creep, that would come up frequently in the investigation.
Fernandes was undaunted, apparently. That day, Oct. 28, 2019, he’d also come across Cadet S.W. She’d just finished a run when she felt the presence of someone behind her. Yup, Fernandes. S.W. removed her headphones when she realized an unknown male was speaking to her. Fernandes asked her increasingly personal questions, allegedly, including whether she had a significant other.
Fernandes followed Cadet S.W. into the student residence, asking her to join him for a drink. She said no, had to study. Fernandes persisted. When another female cadet walked by and commented to Fernandes, “Oh, you’re talking to all the females in this residence?”, S.W. removed herself from the scene.
A dogged fellow, the 40-ish veteran cop, it would seem. Married man on the loose and off the leash.
There may actually be seven complainants, according to Clewley.
“It would be like a kaleidoscope of abuse,” grants Clewley, who’s spent decades defending cops in disciplinary hearings and criminal trials. Best, then, to sidestep a spectacle and plead out. “He would have been confused with Bill Cosby.”
Clewley emphasizes that his client’s conduct was, yes, creepy but he didn’t, you know, grab or molest any of the cadets. “He’s a hapless character but I don’t think he’s evil. It was more, you’re beautiful, can I have your number, can I walk you back to your room? And he doesn’t take no for an answer. The cadets described him fairly accurately, I think, as a pain in the ass and kind of creepy.”
Other descriptors from the cadets: Weird. Inappropriate. Gross.
“Every complainant believed that you surreptitiously engaged with them for a sexual purpose,” says the hearing notice.
In the original incident, Clewley characterized Fernandes as “goofy and stupid.” And he didn’t take the counselling to which he submitted seriously. “It was kind of a lark, like, he didn’t understand why it was such a big deal. Then he went off and got semi-lit and went on the prowl. This time around it gonged him right in the head. You have to be a dolt not to realize that in the current climate, you just can’t hit on young women that way. It poses great danger to your career.”
If Fernandes, on paid suspension, will have any career left when this is over. “My concern is that they’ll go too far,” frets Clewley. “I don’t think it’s worthy of the guillotine. He should get a kick in the head and be given one last chance to prove himself.”
He’s realistic, though. “There’s a chance of him being fired.”
You think?
A dogged fellow, the 40-ish veteran cop, it would seem. Married man on the loose and off the leash