A provincial court judge found police officer Toni Grann not guilty.
The 45-year-old officer with the Thunder Bay Police Service faced 11 counts of breach of trust when she worked as the Sex Offender Registrar and Administrator. The Crown alleged that Grann had falsified information, didn’t require offenders to come to the Balmoral Street station for verification and used the phone to verify details, which was against procedure.
Grann testified earlier that she didn’t want to risk the safety of some convicted offenders because some were in poor health.
The court heard that Grann would make changes to the registry by adjusting a person’s weight by one or two kilograms. Each time she did this, it would create a new file on the registry under that person’s name.
Grann said she never set out to create false documents or deceive anyone and only made the changes as a reminder to herself.
Judge Jennifer Hoshizaki read the verdict via video from Dryden. The poor road conditions prevented the judge from making her decision in person in Thunder Bay.
The judge said the charges weren’t a criminal matter and instead should be dealt with in a disciplinary hearing.
She described Grann as an “incompetent employee who took dangerous shortcuts” but probably believed she was doing her job to the best of her ability.
Hoshizaki also added that no one in the upper chain of command was asking her about what she was doing.
Grann was emotional after the verdict and hugged family and friends.
Defense lawyer Clay Powell said this fight was over but now she had to face a Police Act hearing on the same accusations.
“This was just not a criminal offense,” Powell said.
“This has cost her a lot of money to defend. Someone is going to have to pay for that. Is Grann incompetent? I wouldn’t think so. Did she take some shortcuts? Yes, she did but were they dangerous? I don’t think so.”
He said it’s been a trying time for Grann and the whole process has taken its toll on her. He said she’s been going through hell.
He added Grann may take some recourse against the police service.
