Intimate images trial wraps up

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This article was published 16/02/2021 (2056 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The civil lawsuit around a woman’s intimate images being shared with the Brandon Police Service during a hiring competition wrapped up on Tuesday.

Brittany Roque is suing Terry Lynn Peters for sharing Roque’s intimate images without consent. Tuesday marked the fifth and final scheduled day of the trial.

The City of Brandon is listed as a third party in the lawsuit.

Over the previous days of trial, the court heard from Roque, Peters, deputy Brandon police chief Randy Lewis and others. 

According to an agreed statement of fact, the plaintiff, Roque, took and sent intimate photos of herself to Brandon police officer Ryan Friesen during a three-month affair with him in 2015.

Friesen forwarded the images from his cellphone to his email account before deleting them from his phone. He did this so his then-partner, Terry Lynn Peters — the defendant — wouldn’t find them.

In May 2016, Roque applied to become a police officer with the Brandon Police Service, and in August she was shortlisted for an upcoming position, which she said excited her.

Then, in October 2016, Roque and Peters met at the Brandon Walmart. Peters introduced herself and let Roque know the police officer had family to mark her territory, according to the statement of facts.

In January 2017, Friesen deleted the intimate images from his email account, but they were still accessible in the Trash folder. He also told Peters his email password so she could search the account for evidence of infidelity.

On Feb. 19, 2017, Peters found the nude images of the plaintiff in the trash folder, along with photos of other women. She was upset, so she sent copies of the images to her own email and confronted her partner.

A few days later, Peters distributed the intimate images of Roque to Brandon police senior executive, while Roque was still in the middle of the hiring competition to become a police officer.

In March 2017, Roque underwent a polygraph test as part of the hiring process, where she disclosed her past relationship with Friesen.

At the end of the meeting, she was told she could either withdraw from the hiring process or else she would be removed by the Brandon Police Service, according to the agreed statement of fact.

Roque declined to withdraw from the competition and subsequently filed complaints about what happened with the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba and the RCMP.

Roque’s lawyer, Kevin Toyne, argued in his closing statement the interest of personal privacy and bodily integrity are at stake in the case. Roque has a right to control who views her body and gets to make decisions about her sex life, which were taken from her when the images were shared with the police.

The court heard from Roque on the first day of the lawsuit. She testified that Peters sharing her images had a major impact on her mental health and she contemplated suicide. She also lost 15 pounds and spent weeks spiralling.

Roque is a victim and didn’t deserve what happened to her, said Toyne.

“The fact she was not treated like the victim she is does not mean she is not entitled to vindication in this court of law,” he said.

Toyne also argued Peters distributed Roque’s intimate images to Brandon police solely to get revenge on Roque for her relationship with her common-law husband — not because of true public interest.

“The plaintiff submits you can safely conclude there was a single, solitary motive for Peters’ distribution … and that motive is revenge, revenge for being in a relationship with Friesen, revenge for having sex with Friesen,” said Toyne.

“That is why she did it, for no other purpose.”

Toyne asked the court to create a “chilling effect” on people who may be thinking about sharing someone’s intimate images without their consent.

“This is about preventing deep affronts to people’s dignity, and that is something that should be chilled,” he said.

Rhea Majewski, Peters’ lawyer, argued Peters shared Roque’s intimate images with Brandon police because of the public interest, not out of revenge.

Peters worked for the Brandon police as a civilian for seven years, so she was familiar with the hiring process, Majewski said. She felt there was a duty to provide information that could possibly have been relevant to the police hiring process and request for background information.

Peters also ensured the images only went to the right people at the Brandon Police Service and not to the wider public, something Majewski said she wouldn’t have done if her motivation really was revenge. She also didn’t do anything to ensure there was a negative impact, she only gave them to Lewis.

The court heard last week that Peters sent Roque several text messages after finding the intimate images, inducing “Karma is going to be a joy to watch,” and “Soon you won’t be laughing.”

The messages have to be taken in the context of Peters’ relationship with Friesen, Majewski said, which had been tense for years. The messages weren’t nice or appropriate, but don’t show vengefulness.

Majewski also argued Roque only suffered mild anxiety from the distribution of her images as she was still able to hold down a job, get married and carry on with her day-to-day life in the months and years after.

Annika Friesen, the City of Brandon’s lawyer, argued Lewis got the images from Peters solely for the purpose of the police hiring competition.

He didn’t show them to other people and only described them when he needed to consult with other people, such as a psychologist.

She also argued Lewis and Brandon Police Service got copies of the images to protect the integrity of the police service and explore all avenues of background information when hiring an officer.

Annika Friesen said it was so the police service could protect against possible future blackmail, depending on what the images showed.

Justice Sandra Zinchuk is expected to give her decision at a later date.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @DrewMay_