MISCONDUCT CHARGES
City police officer accused
An Ottawa police officer alleged in a human rights complaint to have raped a rookie colleague now faces discreditable conduct and insubordination charges under the Police Services Act.
Const. Kevin Benloss was served with notice of the disciplinary charges last week. He made a brief appearance Tuesday morning.
The service alleged that Benloss acted in a manner likely to bring discredit on or harm the reputation of the service when he, on March 13, 2011, “engaged in communication and/or physical and/ or sexual contact towards a sworn member … that you ought to have known was unwelcome, unwanted, offensive, intimidating, hostile or inappropriate.”
Benloss was also charged with one count of insubordination for allegedly breaching the force's respectful workplace policy, which governs how employees must treat each other.
The charges come more than two years after the complainant, a rookie police officer at the time of the alleged incident, came forward to police.
Benloss was suspended in September following two different investigations in the last two years.
Benloss was originally named in a human rights complaint filed in 2019 by the female officer who alleged he raped her in 2011.
Before her human rights complaint was filed, the woman went to the Ontario Provincial Police in 2018, which kicked off a criminal investigation.
The OPP, according to the complaint, found grounds to believe a sexual assault had occurred but believed there to be no reasonable prospect of conviction and therefore did not lay criminal charges. That criminal complaint also prompted the Ottawa police to launch an internal investigation into the allegations against Benloss.
The Citizen revealed in August that internal misconduct investigators had “substantiated misconduct” against Benloss earlier this summer but no charges had been laid.
The woman alleged in her human rights complaint that after a night of drinking with fellow officers, Benloss was supposed to drive her home but instead drove her to his place. When they got to his house, the physical advances began, she alleged. “He then told me he was suddenly too drunk to drive,” effectively leaving her stranded at his home.
He made a “fizzy” drink and gave it to her, according to the complaint.
She was playing guitar, when “he grabbed the guitar away and attempted to kiss me.” She started to cry, before he “berated me, telling me that I needed counselling because I should be having a good time.”
She “became incredibly tired” and “laid down horizontally at the foot of the bed on top of the covers.” The next thing she remembered, according to the complaint, was Benloss, with his pants off, allegedly forcing oral sex on her.
The woman alleged he then raped her.
Benloss has been an Ottawa police officer since 2006.
Benloss has a history of police discipline. He was demoted in 2017 for admitting he fabricated traffic warnings issued to drivers in the police database as part of a sprawling investigation into “ghost warnings” issued by Ottawa police officers.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of discreditable conduct and one count of insubordination under the Police Services Act and was sentenced to an eight-month demotion from first- to second-class constable.
At that time, he had “no prior discipline issues,” according to the sentencing decision.
Benloss remains suspended with pay. None of the allegations against him has been proven.