Bridgette Cyr hugs Sheri Duncan after they both read a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing of retired police officer Robert Semenchuck in Regina on Friday.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
One by one, women took the microphone in a hushed Regina courtroom to describe the lasting effects of their relationships with a man they now know to be retired Regina police sergeant Robert Semenchuck.
“He didn’t just take my privacy. He took my safety, he took my peace. He took the version of me that believed in integrity and fairness,” said Colleen Lark. (Some of the women’s names are protected by a publication ban, but Ms. Lark is among those who opted to allow her name to be published. )
“He did this. A sworn officer, a man who chose to act like a predator, believing he could violate me with impunity. And now I demand answers from the system that enabled him.”
Mr. Semenchuck, 53, has pleaded guilty to one count of breach of trust and one count of unlawful use of a computer for using police resources to target at least 33 women for intimate and sexual relationships. Mr. Semenchuck used fake names and identities in most of the interactions, though some of the women – including at least four who worked at the Regina Police Service – knew he was a police officer.
The Crown and defence have put forward a joint submission for a conditional sentence served in the community, with a six-month period of house arrest and three years of probation.
Mr. Semenchuck enters the Provincial Courthouse for his sentencing hearing.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
Judge Marylynne Beaton adjourned the case until Feb. 6 to review the case law and decide whether she will accept the joint submission, telling the lawyers “the magnitude of the offending behaviours” she heard in the victim impact statements “didn’t really come through in your agreed statement of facts.”
The agreed statement of facts says Mr. Semenchuck had a pattern of reaching out to women with what appeared to be wrong number texts, and that the veteran officer would then “take the opportunity to engage the victims in a further text conversation slowly building trust and a personal relationship.”
Many of the women were “experiencing difficulties in their own lives, some of which the accused would have been able to determine from this improper use of the Regina Police Service computer system,” the statement says.
Nine victim impacts statements were read out by women in court, four were put on the record by Crown prosecutor Christopher Browne and another six were filed without being read aloud.
In their statements, the women described experiencing profound and devastating effects of their interactions with Mr. Semenchuck, including fear of police, feeling isolated and alone, ashamed, and wondering how and why they were targeted.
Reporter Kerry Benjoe leaves court after reading a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing.Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
Kerry Benjoe, a Regina journalist who prompted the police investigation after filing a complaint with professional standards investigators in 2023, said she lived in fear after she learned the true identity of the man she believed was a construction contractor named Jay Lewis.
She first received a text from Mr. Semenchuck while she was in a domestic violence shelter. Their ensuing relationship spanned several years.
“There were times when I couldn’t get out of bed for weeks. Every what-if scenario ran through my mind, and it still does...,” said Ms. Benjoe, who also consented to having her name published. “As a disabled Indigenous woman, I lived in fear, not only for myself, but for my children. I didn’t know Robert Semenchuck and what he was actually capable of doing. How could I defend myself from this trained police officer?”
Others called him a “monster,” and a “predator.”
“Still to this day, I’m angered and I feel extremely violated,” said one of the women, whose name is protected by a publication ban. “I did not consent to an intimate relationship with Sergeant Robert Semenchuck. I consented to intimacy with divorced engineer Steve Perkins.”
For years, he preyed on vulnerable women. Then they found out who he was
Mr. Semenchuck appeared in court with his father, and sat staring straight ahead throughout the proceedings, showing no reaction to the women’s statements.
Though he has no previous criminal record, a presentence report says Mr. Semenchuck has a history of improperly accessing police information, and has been “previously corrected by the RPS in the proper use of that database.”
The report said he was still “unsure exactly what motivated him” in his behaviour, but that he believes mental health issues, specifically depression, played a part.
“He recalled feelings of excitement and heightened adrenalin while accessing information without work purposes which distracted him from depression and anxiety he had not been addressing effectively,” the report reads.
Court also heard he’s been diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder since being put on leave by the police service, and is going to therapy on a monthly basis.
Given an opportunity to speak, Mr. Semenchuck said only: “I just want to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who was affected by my choices and my actions. I am truly sorry.”
In a victim impact statement on behalf of RPS, Police Chief Lorilee Davies said Mr. Semenchuck’s actions have had a significant effect on the organization and its officers, and have done great harm to many women in the community.
“I can only hope that the sentence imposed will address the harms caused by your crimes,” she said.