Man suing feds accuses Manitoba RCMP officers of aggravated sexual battery during arrest

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Peggy

WARNING: This story contains graphic details.

A man suing the federal government accuses Manitoba RCMP of aggravated sexual battery after one of his testicles ruptured during a traffic stop last year, but his account differs from what Mounties told the provincial police watchdog.

The 37-year-old man alleges the testicular injury was sustained during a “merciless beating” by Manitoba RCMP officers, during which they kicked him in the groin “so hard that his left testicle was forced through his scrotum through a tear caused by the kick.”

He’s now suing the Attorney General of Canada for aggravated, punitive and special damages in a lawsuit filed at the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench on Sept. 12. He’s also seeking damages for alleged violations of his constitutional rights.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. A statement of defence has not yet been filed.

The man was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by Manitoba RCMP near the town of Stonewall on Oct. 28, 2023, the lawsuit says. That same day, he was charged with fleeing from police officers in a vehicle and possession of a motor vehicle obtained by crime, court records show.

RCMP told the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba — which investigates all serious matters involving police in the province — that officers were trying to conduct a traffic stop on a white Ford F-150 in Stonewall when the truck took off and a pursuit began, the IIU previously said.

The chase, which ended a little over an hour later on Highway 8 at Emes Road, just outside of Winnipeg, led to the arrest of the driver and passenger. Both resisted arrest and had to be forcibly taken out of the vehicle, RCMP said.

They said the passenger, who landed on the asphalt as he was removed by officers, later complained at the RCMP’s Stonewall detachment of testicular pain sustained during that fall.

The man’s lawsuit alleges Mounties failed to inform him of the reason for his detention or his right to retain a lawyer. He also claims that the injury amounts to a violation of his sexual integrity.

‘Extreme pain and agony’

The man says he needed emergency surgery to repair his testicle and that he has and continues to suffer “extreme pain and agony.”

He also accuses RCMP of failing to immediately provide the emergency medical care that he needed, which aggravated and prolonged his suffering, the suit says.

The officers who arrested the man are not named in the lawsuit, as he says their identities are unknown to him.

CBC reached out to the attorney general’s office, but it deferred any comment to Manitoba RCMP, who have not yet responded.