A high-profile incident involving three Canadian law enforcement officers has sparked scrutiny after the group was criminally charged during a personal vacation in Barcelona, Spain, Toronto Police Service has confirmed. In an official emailed statement to the BBC, Toronto police acknowledged that the accusations against the trio are severe in nature. One of the three officers has already returned to Canada and has been placed on administrative suspension immediately pending the outcome of the legal process. The remaining two officers are set to return to Canada in the coming days, and will also be suspended as soon as they re-enter the country, according to department officials.
Toronto Police have declined to release the identities of the three officers, noting that no further comment will be provided while the cases work through the Spanish judicial system. Initial reporting from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), citing sources within Spanish law enforcement, indicates the charges center on acts of violence. The BBC has reached out to local Spanish authorities to request additional context and comment on the case, but has not yet received a response.
Beyond confirming the officers’ employment with Toronto Police and that the trip was strictly personal leisure travel with no official law enforcement mandate, the department has released few additional details. More specific reporting from CBC outlines the individual charges: two of the three officers face counts of sexual assault and assault that resulted in bodily injury, while the third officer is charged with assaulting a public authority agent. The alleged incident is reported to have taken place inside a Barcelona taxi and involved a sex worker, according to Canadian media accounts.
Spanish law enforcement took two of the officers into custody on May 13, Canadian media sources confirm. The third officer was arrested days later following a police chase in the coastal resort city of Palma de Mallorca, located on the Balearic Islands off Spain’s eastern coast. All three officers made their initial court appearance in Spain on May 15.