According to his lawyer, Const. Kevin Benloss is “committed to rectify the damages” to his reputation.

According to the officer’s attorney, the criminal charges against an Ottawa police officer accused of sexually assaulting a former girlfriend have been dropped.

Constable Kevin Benloss was accused of sexual assault, assault, voyeurism, and criminal harassment by Ottawa police in the spring of 2022.

The decision to withhold his identify was made by the police “to preserve the victim’s privacy,” it was stated at the time. An ex-girlfriend who made the complaints to the police earlier that year was the complainant.

The former girlfriend was allegedly sexually attacked by Benloss in 2014, again in February 2022, while also being secretly filmed and subjected to criminal harassment for a period of nearly eight years, according to the police.

Benloss’s defense attorney expressed gratitude on behalf of his client after the Crown withdrew the charges in an Ontario Court of Justice courtroom in Ottawa on Monday in an email statement to CBC.

According to Peter Thorning, the accusations were “unwarranted from their origin” and that “neither evidence nor law” supported them.

Const. Benloss “remains committed to repairing the losses to his professional and personal reputation” despite the substantial challenges he has encountered as a result of these allegations, according to Thorning.

Almost four months earlier, was cleared in an internal hearing

Just four months after Benloss was cleared in a different internal misconduct probe in November of last year, the criminal accusations against him have been dropped. His expulsion had been demanded by the police department.

According to Ottawa police, on March 13, 2011, Benloss “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,” which he “ought to have known was unwelcome, unwanted, offensive, intimidating, hostile or inappropriate,” according to the allegation.

He was also charged with one count of insubordination for allegedly violating the police force’s policy on treating coworkers respectfully.

The complainant as well as police and civilian witnesses were questioned by the disciplinary panel.

The hearing was characterized by heated exchanges between the police prosecutor and Benloss’s defense attorney, outbursts by the complainant, and interruptions from observers, some of whom supported Benloss and some of whom supported the complainant.

The complainant claimed in her evidence that Benloss had sexually attacked her at his home when she was a rookie following a night out drinking with other law enforcement personnel.

Thorning had contended that the complainant made up a story about sexual assault after the fact and that the sexual interaction was consensual.

Benloss was first placed on paid leave in September 2020. When contacted on Monday for information regarding his present employment situation, the force did not answer right away.