A former police officer in Canada has admitted to misusing his access to police information. Robert Eric Semenchuck, who used to be a police sergeant, has pleaded guilty to looking up private information in police databases to try and start relationships with women.
Semenchuck, who is 53 years old, is facing charges because he broke the rules. He reportedly used the police system to find about 30 women, and then contacted them. Some of these women had been victims of crimes, including domestic violence.
The police service said that Semenchuck used his access to find these women and start relationships with them. Some of the women didn’t even know that he was a police officer.
Reports say that Semenchuck would use different names and pretend to be someone else, like a contractor. He would then text the women for a long time, sometimes for years.
One woman shared that she was in a shelter for abused women when she got a text from him. She said the texts made her feel better at a difficult time. They texted for four years before she started to suspect something was wrong.
She used a special computer program to check a photo he had sent her. The program found a picture of Semenchuck in his police uniform.
The woman said she was scared when she found out who he really was. She contacted the police, which led to an investigation that lasted two years.
Another woman said that “Steve” contacted her, and they were in contact for over a year. She said that he became controlling and pressured her to send him inappropriate pictures.
When Semenchuck was charged, the police chief said that he had quit his job. The police also said they are making changes to prevent this from happening again. They will now check who is using the database, provide more training, and remind everyone that the information is only for police work.
Semenchuck will be sentenced in court in January. The court is expected to hear from many of the women he contacted about how his actions affected them.
