SQ police officer suspended after pretending to be a minor on Facebook
Posted July 23, 2024 10:26 am.
A Sûreté du Québec (SQ) officer has been reportedly suspended for 12 days for pretending to be a minor on Facebook to spy and collect information about a citizen.
According to Le Journal, Officer Marc-Olivier Blais’s approached Vincent Lemieux in a parking lot and asked him to identify himself in June 2020.
At the time, the SQ gave its officers permission to identify potential shoplifting suspects.
Lemieux refused several times but after Blais threatened to arrest him, he revealed his name and date of birth.
However, according to the law, the officer had no right to demand his identity because there were no reasonable grounds to arrest the victim.
The case took a turn in February 2021 when Lemieux received a ticket while driving on the highway. He noticed that the SQ officer who issued the ticket was allegedly friends with Blais on Facebook.
The following May, Lemieux was contacted on social media by an underage girl named ‘Clara Bernard.’
After a few exchanges, he noticed the account displayed the same email address as Blais’ real account.
Lemieux told ‘Clara Bernard’ that he knew her real identity and the Facebook account was blocked.
The two men had already filed complaints against each leading up to this point, but a new criminal harassment complaint forced Blais to reveal what he did to his lieutenant.
Quebec’s police ethics commissioner imposed the 12 day suspension and Blais is expected to serve it around the end of November or the beginning of December.
