News Release

News Release

SIU Finds No Reasonable Grounds to Charge York Regional Police Officer Following Sexual Assault Complaint During Markham Arrest

Case Number: 25-OSA-418   

Mississauga, ON (16 March, 2026) ---
On October 16, 2025, the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency contacted the SIU to report that they were in receipt of information in which it was alleged that an officer had sexually assaulted a 17-year-old male in the course of his arrest on September 1, 2025. The SIU initiated an investigation, naming a York Regional Police officer as the subject official. On Director Joseph Martino’s assessment of the evidence, he found no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the complaint of sexual assault.

Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, 2019, the Director may exercise a discretion to not publish a Director's Report dealing with the reported sexual assault of a person where the person's privacy interests in not having the report published clearly outweighs the public interest in having the report published, subject to prior consultation with the person.  Upon consultation with the person in this case, the Director has decided to publish the report.
     
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision): https://www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_reports.php.


If you or someone you know has been negatively affected by an incident under SIU investigation and would like support, the Affected Persons Program is here to help. You can reach us at 1-877-641-1897. Support is free, confidential, and available 24/7, every day of the year.

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (municipal, regional and provincial police officers, police officers with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the Director of the SIU must

  • consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
  • depending on the evidence, cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid
  • publicly report the results of its investigations

Lisez ce communiqué en français.

Monica Hudon, siu.media@ontario.ca
SIU Communications/Service des communications, UES