Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

VicPD officer committed discreditable conduct in off-duty sexual encounter, OPCC finds

Former judge Wally Oppal found Sgt. Brent Keleher “did not have an honest but mistaken belief” that the complainant consented to the sexual contact.
web1_06302022-news-vicpd-rooftop

The police watchdog has found a Victoria Police Department officer committed discreditable conduct when he had an off-duty sexual encounter with a woman who was not deemed to be “an equal and consenting participant.” 

Former judge Wally Oppal, who adjudicated a public hearing of the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner on the complaint, found Sgt. Brent Keleher “did not have an honest but mistaken belief” that the complainant consented to the sexual contact, which occurred May 12, 2018. 

“An honest belief in consent cannot be based on a guess or assumption,” Oppal wrote in his decision. 

The hearing, held between June and November of last year, followed an independent investigation by the Vancouver Police Department and a disciplinary proceeding led by retired judge James Threlfall, who found the evidence did not support a finding that a sexual assault took place. 

The complainant, a married 35-year-old nurse who lives in Victoria, filed a complaint with the OPCC on Feb. 4, 2019, alleging she had been sexually assaulted by the VicPD officer. 

According to the OPCC report, the woman, referred to in the report as N.O., was in Vancouver on May 11, 2018 to see a longtime friend as part of a getaway weekend after giving birth to a son nine months before. 

She knew of Keleher because she had worked with his wife as an emergency room nurse at a Victoria hospital. 

The next day, she and her friend ran into a group of other people — including Keleher — and went to several spots, consuming a significant amount of alcohol. Keleher was with two others in town for a bachelor party, and other friends also joined in. 

A number of the party-goers went home to Victoria but some decided to stay another night in Vancouver. 

The women and the men had some drinks the next day, then met up at the Shark Club about 7:30 p.m. 

“It would be an understatement to say that a considerable amount of alcohol was consumed by everyone,” the OPCC report said. 

From the Shark Club, the group headed to the Roxy on Granville Street and left sometime prior to 2 a.m., before heading to a hotel room reserved by Keleher. They eventually divided into two rooms after a second one was booked. 

The complainant said she was alone in a bed in her bra and underwear when she awoke to the feeling of being touched. She said Keleher was touching her and whispering to her. 

At one point, she said, she realized he was putting her hand on his penis and she pulled away, then it happened again. 

“I just curled up,” she said. “I was terrified.” 

The hearing report said she made it clear that she did not consent to Keleher’s actions. 

Keleher has “an entirely different version of the facts,” the report said. 

He said there were two beds in the room and he and the complainant lay down on one above the covers before the rest of the people arrived. He said she went into the bathroom and came back and climbed in next to him while two others were in the next bed having sex. 

Keleher said the two touched and there was manual stimulation, but he came to the conclusion things had gone too far and he did not want to have intercourse, before suggesting they “keep this to ourselves.” 

He said she was awake the whole time and consented to what was happening, but the complainant said she remembers nothing until she woke up at 7:45 a.m. 

She said the next day that she wasn’t sure if she’d been raped while unconscious. 

She reported the incident on June 8 to Vancouver police, who arranged for her to talk to Keleher on the phone while wearing a wire. He said during the calls that they did not have intercourse and that he did not grope her while she was asleep or passed out. 

He said he felt bad and guilty about what happened. 

The report noted that policing is a profession where off-duty conduct is subject to scrutiny. It said the hearing was not a criminal trial and Keleher is not charged with a criminal offence. 

There is no dispute that a sexual encounter occurred, the report said. 

“I find that Sgt. Keleher was, at the very least, reckless as to whether [the complainant] consented to the sexual act,” Oppal said in his report. “Surely it must have been apparent to him, as an experienced officer, that she was clearly vulnerable. 

“Accordingly I must reject his position that she was an equal and consenting participant in the sexual encounter.” 

Discreditable conduct means an officer “conducting himself in a manner that the member knows or ought to know would likely bring discredit on the municipal police department.” 

jbell@timescolonist.com