Andrew Duffy

Prostitutes say officer extorting sex, probe told

But the force has been unable to collect enough evidence to prosecute anyone, Detective Sergeant Donald Caisse yesterday told the inquiry examining the practices and procedures of Metro police's internal affairs unit.

The Sperm Whale complaint came from a representative of Maggie's, a downtown drop-in centre for prostitutes, said Caisse, an investigator with internal affairs. Caisse said he does not know who followed up the complaint.

In a newsletter destributed to prostitutes Sperm Whale has been described as a large, aggressive police officer with violent tendencies.

Caisse testified that the Sperm Whale was one of three investigations launched by internal affairs in response to complaints from prostitutes during his term as an investigator.

Another case resulted in charges against an officer under the Police Services Act for the sexual exploitation of a prostitute, he said.

Caisse's evidence came in response to questions from Dianne Martin, lawyer for Jane Doe, a prostitute whose 1989 sexual assault complaint against an officer resulted in sergeant Brian Whitehead being demoted to constable.

Caisse was one of the investigators in the Whitehead matter.

Earlier yesterday chairperson Frank D'Andrea ruled against a motion to expand the hearings to look at sex and race bias with internal affairs.

D'Andrea also turned down lawyer Dan Brodsky's request to unseal a judge's confidential report on 192 files that internal affairs failed to refer to Clare Lewis, the public complaints commissioner.

The inquiry was called to delve into the case of former Metro police constable Gordon Junger who signed a controversial resignation agreement amid charges he ran an escort service.

It was expanded to include the case against Whitehead, arrested in a woman's apartment in November, 1989.