(Winnipeg Free Press) – The RCMP has re-opened a criminal probe into allegations that Mounties in a community outside Winnipeg repeatedly assaulted a 16-year-old girl with a Taser, a lawyer says.
Catherine Dunn, lawyer for the girl and her mother, said the RCMP recently told her the force is bringing in an investigator from the Calgary Police Service to conduct the probe.
The girl, now 17, and her mother alleged at the end of July that she was assaulted by members of the Selkirk RCMP after she was detained in November 2007 for being drunk and stealing her parent’s vehicle.
Selkirk is about 30 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
The girl said she was thrown into a jail cell and struck by Taser fire at least three times near her groin and upper thigh.
She said several officers held her down while at least one officer repeatedly fired the Taser at her.
The girl was never charged.
RCMP spokeswoman Line Karpish confirmed that an out-of-province, non-RCMP investigator will now be handling the case.
Karpish said the girl had filed a complaint of excessive force against the officers.
The family’s lawyer said she was surprised by the RCMP announcement, adding that last month the RCMP had cleared its officers of any criminal wrongdoing.
Dunn said the girl and her family had filed a complaint with the RCMP over the incident, alleging it amounted to a criminal assault.
Dunn said the family also initiated a non-criminal public complaint against the officers.
The lawyer said the initial investigation had been carried out by members of the Selkirk detachment.
She said the decision that the detachment had cleared its own officers of any wrongdoing had generated a great deal publicity, adding she believes the public’s interest in the case prompted the RCMP to bring in an independent investigator.
Dunn said the RCMP told her that the independent investigator has already been appointed and that he will complete his probe within two to three weeks.
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