Constable charged

A city police constable faces a dozen criminal charges following accusation that numerous Ontario Sex Offender Registry records had been falsified.

Officials with the Thunder Bay Police Service announced Wednesday that charges had been laid following an internal audit by the police service that began in January. The audit found serious issues relating to the Ontario Sex Offender Registry records under control of the local police force.

"As a result of the audit of the workload of the individual responsible for maintaining the sexual offenders registry, we uncovered discrepancies in the database. That resulted in a compliance audit of the sexual offenders registry, which led to a criminal investigation and ultimately the charges that we announced today," said Thunder Bay Police Services chief Bob Herman.

Const. Toni Grann, 43, has been charged with 12 counts of breach of trust. Grann has served with the Thunder Bay Police Service for 11 years. She has been suspended with pay since March 11, 2010.

Police say it is alleged that between 2005 and 2010, the constable responsible for the registration of local convicted sex offenders and the co-ordination of the data had falsified a number of records.

Charges have been laid in relation to the records of 12 convicted sex offenders. In total there are 233 sex offenders on the registry who call Thunder Bay home. Police say an investigation is still ongoing.

Because it’s a matter before the courts, Herman remained tight-lipped about exact nature of the alleged offences, saying only that the public was never in any danger. He stressed they’ve taken steps to ensure something like this does not happen again.

"Any time that any database, or something that is used by police is compromised, there could be a public-safety issue," Herman said. "But as I said, our first priority was to ensure that we are 100 per cent compliant with the registry. That was done. It’s been audited by the Ontario Provincial Police, who oversee the sex offender registry and they have also confirmed we are compliant.

"We have also changed our practices in relation to the sex offender registry from an internal standpoint. For example, auditing the registry will be a yearly thing we’ll be doing. As well we will be verifying the information that is put into the registry by contacting offenders."

Herman said one officer will contact the offender and verify the information to verify information put into the registry.

"As well we have no one officer who is responsible for the registry, but have a number of officers that are responsible for entering data," Herman said.

The Toronto Professional Standards Unit began an investigation after the audit, a process that lasted several months.

Herman said it took so long because the TBPS’s No. 1 priority was fixing the registry.
"That’s where our focus was," he said. "We’ve done that and all the offenders that are in Thunder Bay are compliant with the registry."

People are placed on the registry after being convicted of a number of criminal offences, including sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation, incest, bestiality, exposure in front of a child and the making, possession or distribution of child pornography.

Registration is mandatory for anyone convicted of qualifying offences.

Grann, who is expected to appear in court on Dec. 21, faces up to five years in prison per charge if convicted.

None of the charges has been proven in a court of law.