Photo of: Kerry Benjoe
Photo by: Danielle Dufour
By Danielle Dufour
Former Regina Police (RPS) officer Robert Eric Semenchuck is presently serving house arrest, he was charged for breaching confidential information through the police database which he used to target, manipulate and victimize 33 vulnerable women. One of those women, Kerry Benjoe, a prominent Indigenous journalist in Saskatchewan, was the first to make a complaint, wants harsher penalties for officers who access data without cause.
Benjoe feels the law needs to be changed.
In her case, there was case law, but no precedent existed specifically to what Semenchuck did to these women.
“With the advancement of technology, our ability to create safeguards are there,” said Benjoe. “We have governments … financial institutions that operate that never breach privacy because of the penalties.”
Benjoe said police officers should be held to that same standard. “We expect that, we trust them with our stories, we trust them to protect us … they shouldn’t turn around and use those vulnerabilities to prey on people and get something out of it for themselves. They shouldn’t be servicing themselves.”
“We need an accurate picture of how often these privacy breaches happen,” said Benjoe. “We need a public inquiry to find out exactly what degree this actually happens, so we get a broader picture of what is happening at RPS.”
Benjoe feels the public and victims’ need to be involved in this inquiry along with an oversight committee. “Police should not be policing themselves; we need somebody outside of that round who can look at it critically … without covering anything up.”
Benjoe, along with a group of other victims, attended the Regina Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC) meeting last Tuesday requesting an inquiry into these privacy breaches.
“I feel if a police officers breaches privacy, and it’s proven that it’s their first offense, they don’t get a second chance,” said Benjoe. “They should be fired.”
“They have a duty, they swore to serve and protect, not service themselves,” said Benjoe.
Regina Police Chief Lorilee Davies said the department is implementing seven of the nine watchdog’s recommendations.
One recommendation will require officers to include a reason once an internal record is accessed.
Benjoe hopes the Ministry of Justice will adopt “Kerry’s Factor,” by looking at these privacy breaches and how extreme they really are, to determine the appropriate level of sentencing for each breach.
“When there’s a privacy breach, it should be assessed and determined whether or not it meets the criteria for prosecution,” said Benjoe. “The severe level that was perpetrated by Semenchuck, we need to start with the factors and start prosecuting accordingly. The levels of severity of that breach need to be considered because what he did was so extreme, so sinister, he disrupted the lives of so many women.”
In 2018 Benjoe, having just left a seven-year abusive relationship, was living in a shelter and made charges against her ex-partner. Semenchuck accessed her information three days after making those charges at RPS. Shortly thereafter, she received a text from an individual claiming to be a local contractor named Jay Lewis. He was compassionate and supportive and from there, a relationship between the two started and became intimate.
“Semenchuck specifically targeted, we were preyed upon,” said Benjoe. “He used his skills as a police officer to gain entry into our lives for the various purposes.”
This relationship lasted until 2021. In 2023, Benjoe received a text from Semenchuck, and they began talking again until she noticed his behaviour had changed.
“It was him swearing, it was like, do I really know this guy,” said Benjoe. “When he swore, it was the first time he had shown any kind of anger.”
This prompted Benjoe to revisit all the red flags she had previously ignored and used the one photo she had of Semenchuck to do a reverse image search on him which brought up a picture that showed a police jacket.
Benjoe then met with a friend who was a retired Regina Police employee who confirmed the picture was “Bob” Semenchuck, an RPS officer.
Another friend through RPS got her in contact with Professional Standards to make a complaint for them to investigate the breach.
Eventually his phone was confiscated. The investigation was lengthy as there were hundreds of files found. They confirmed he had accessed her police file three days after her complaint was made.
“Whether they were victims of crime, domestic violence victims, or those with mental health issues, very vulnerable women, I just happened to be at that time very vulnerable,” said Benjoe. “He picked women that were just living their lives, innocent women that were susceptible to the charms and the attention of a somewhat attractive male suitor; for me he was a friend.”
After three years, Semenchuck pleaded guilty the day before his court hearing, resigned from RPS and has served no jail time and was not charged with sex crimes.
“I will probably never know why he did what he did,” said Benjoe.
He only got charged one breach of privacy and one misuse of a computer to cover 33 victims.
Benjoe is grateful to RPS for their investigation as well as the other witnesses who came forward to share their own experiences.
“It took a lot for these women to come forward.”
She feels that until crown prosecutors are willing to take these cases more seriously, we’re going to see more cases like this result in minor consequences to the perpetrator.
“I’ve lived with it for three years, that fear of retaliation, the fear of the unknown whether I was going to see another day has taken it’s toll,” said Benjoe. “I’m trying to find my footing again.”