Victims lose faith in police force
A top police boss has offered to personally intervene in an alleged sex assault case against a senior officer, as victims say they are losing faith in how investigations are handled.
Assistant Commissioner for Investigations Richard Chambers put forward the offer after a woman said she did not believe she would be treated fairly if she laid a complaint.
The woman alleged she was sexually assaulted by a senior officer who has faced similar allegations from other women.
She did not want her complaint heard by the same investigative team, as she had concerns about how the case was being handled.
The woman made contact with the Adult Sexual Assault team at Police National Headquarters on February 19 and exchanged emails with Detective Senior Sergeant Anthony Tebbutt.
She advised she was considering reporting a sexual assault by a senior police officer, and added: ‘‘I don’t want the people already investigating him doing mine’’.
Tebbutt replied: ‘‘There would be flexibility within that team regarding who you speak to, but being a criminal investigation it would need to be the same team that investigates any further complaints.’’ The woman replied she would not be filing a report.
She said she had grappled with whether to lay a complaint against the officer for the alleged historical offending. ‘‘There was no way back then, that I was reporting it, because he was a policeman,’’ she said. ‘‘They have so much power, and who would believe me?’’
Chambers said he wanted to assure victims ‘‘that police will take their complaint seriously and investigate all aspects fully’’.
‘‘Where a sexual assault complaint is laid and concerns are raised by the complainant about the investigation team or process, those concerns will be considered by police and an appropriate way forward identified,’’ Chambers said. The assistant commissioner offered to communicate directly with the woman in confidence.
After Stuff submitted a request to police for information on the issue, Tebbutt contacted the woman once more to say ‘‘I’m sorry… if I haven’t been clear.’’
‘‘If you don’t want the current investigation team to be involved, that is not an issue,’’ he said. ‘‘Your complaint can be investigated by a separate team.’’
The woman said she would not be making contact with Chambers, and questioned why she had not received such an offer before media became involved.
The incident is the latest in a string of concerns about how police are handling sex assault allegations against their own officers.
In October last year, a woman who alleged she was abused by an officer said the process had left her frustrated and anxious, and she worried detectives were not taking her complaint seriously.
The following month, police investigators were forced to admit a communication ‘‘breakdown’’ had seen them fail to make contact with an alleged victim until five months after they received her contact details.
A few weeks later complaints emerged that police were using prominent advocate Louise Nicholas to ‘‘manipulate’’ alleged victims of police abuse. Nicholas said the claims were ‘‘ridiculous.’’