Tasiujaq accused to make first court appearance

The man accused of sexual assault in connection with a Sept. 19 police-vehicle incident in Tasiujaq will make his first court appearance in Kuujjuaq Oct. 6.

Joe Kritik, 24, faces one charge of sexual assault related to an incident Sept. 19 in which it’s alleged that a handcuffed young woman was sexually assaulted in the back of a police vehicle.

Sources allege that a woman in an intoxicated state was picked up by a female police officer that evening after a large alcohol shipment fueled several parties in Tasiujaq.

The special constable, with Kativik Regional Police Force, is alleged to have handcuffed the woman before stopping at another residence to put a man, also in an intoxicated state but not handcuffed, into the back of the same vehicle.

Responding to a complaint, the officer then stopped at yet another residence to pick up a third man, sources said.

During the police officer’s absence, the woman prisoner is alleged to have been sexually assaulted by the male prisoner who was with her in the truck.

On Sept. 30, the Kativik Regional Government said that “after the incident in Tasiujaq, the suspect was arrested, detained, and remanded” until his preliminary hearing Oct. 6.

Kritik also faces a charge of breach of probation in relation to the Sept. 19 incident.

The female victim, known only as J.A., cannot be identified in any news story or brodadcast.

Under the Criminal Code of Canada, sexual assault complainants may not be identified by news organizations.

The Kativik Regional Government has yet to confirm what happened on Sept. 19, saying that the KRPF continues to investigate the allegations.

“Once the investigation is complete,” the KRG, which is responsible for the KRPF, said it would issue another statement.

The Tasiujaq police officer was suspended, the KRG said in an earlier statement.

Because the officer is not suspected of any criminal allegations, the investigation into the incident won’t be sent to another police department — as in the case of shootings, which are referred to the Sûreté du Québec provincial police.

This one will be left to the regional police force to investigate on its own.

Quebec has an online website where members of the public can lodge formal complaints about police.

The Police Ethics Commissioner can receive and examine complaints against police officers and special constables who may have violated the code of ethics for Quebec police officers.

In this case, the commission can only act if there’s a complaint from a person.

A civil suit or public investigation could be another option in this instance.

In 1993 the RCMP Public Complaints Commission held a hearing into the case of Kitty-Nowdluk-Reynolds.

The Iqaluit woman, who had been choked, raped and beaten in Iqaluit, moved to British Columbia with her fiancé. After not responding to a subpoena to appear in court in Iqaluit, Nowdluk-Reynolds was arrested, and ended up being brought to Iqaluit to testify at the trial of her rapist — who later pleaded guilty. They were brought to court in the same RCMP van.

At no point during her ordeal did police explain their actions to Nowdluk-Reynolds or inform her of her right to legal counsel.