Three off-duty Canadian police officers have been arrested in Spain in connection with the alleged assault of a woman during a holiday to Barcelona, authorities said on Thursday.
According to a spokesman for the Catalan regional police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, two of the men were detained on 13 May in Barcelona, while a third was arrested two days later on the island of Mallorca after travelling there following the alleged incident.
Police said the alleged assault occurred in the early hours of 13 May in Barcelona’s historic centre while the three men were travelling in a taxi with a prostitute. The spokesman said the woman was allegedly groped and struck by the men.
Barcelona newspaper El Periodico de Catalunya, which first broke the story, reported that the woman was allegedly pressured into having sex with all three men and that the suspects became aggressive after she refused.
While Catalan police did not identify the suspects, a spokesman for the Toronto Police Service confirmed reports that the men are off-duty officers with the force. Canadian media reported that the officers would be suspended.
Of the two suspects initially arrested in Barcelona, one has been formally charged with sexual assault and bodily harm, according to Catalan police. The second man was released and has since returned to Canada, although he remains under investigation.
Authorities have not yet detailed the charges facing the third suspect arrested in Mallorca.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said that if the officers are convicted, they ‘should be punished’, describing the allegations as ‘serious’.
‘Public trust in policing is fundamental,’ she told reporters at a news conference in Toronto on Tuesday.
The arrests come at a difficult time for Toronto’s police force, which has recently faced several corruption investigations involving claims that officers accepted bribes and aided drug traffickers, further harming the organisation’s public image.
Toronto police spokeswoman Stephanie Sayer said in a statement that one of the officers has already returned to Canada and has been suspended from duty under provincial community safety and policing legislation.
She added that the remaining two officers would also be suspended once they return from Spain in the coming days.
‘The allegations are serious,’ said Sayer, adding that the police force would make no further comment while the matter remains before the Spanish courts.
The Toronto Police Association, which represents the officers, said it would not comment because the alleged events took place while the men were off duty.
Neither Canadian media outlets nor Catalan authorities have released the names of the detained officers.
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