Two women who were targeted by former Regina police sergeant Robert Semenchuck have filed lawsuits for sexual assault, saying their consent to physical intimacy was invalidated by his abuse of their confidential information and “the significant imbalance of power and authority he exercised” over them.

The statements of claim, filed by Kerry Benjoe and Bridgette Cyr earlier this summer, also assert misfeasance in public office, breach of privacy, negligence and breach of trust. A statement of claim contains allegations that have not been proved in court.

A statement of defence filed by Mr. Semenchuck “denies each and every allegation” outside what had already been proved or admitted in criminal court.

Mr. Semenchuck, 53, pleaded guilty in November to one count of breach of trust and one count of unauthorized use of a computer for improperly accessing the private information of dozens of women.

During his sentencing, court heard that the veteran police officer had been using the Regina Police Service records-management-system database to gather personal details for women. He would then contact them under the pretense of a wrong-number text. The contact sometimes evolved into romantic or intimate relationships.

In statements of claim filed on behalf of Ms. Benjoe and Ms. Cyr, lawyer Maurice Laprairie asserts that any sexual activity was not consensual in those circumstances.

“The Defendant committed multiple sexual assaults against the Plaintiff on many dates between 2018 and 2021 by intentionally applying force to her person and engaging in sexual activity without her free, voluntary, and informed consent,” says the statement of claim filed against Mr. Semenchuck by Ms. Benjoe in late June. Ms. Cyr’s statement of claim was filed weeks earlier.

It says her consent to the sexual activities “was obtained through the Defendant’s fraudulent misrepresentations regarding his identity, occupation, marital status and the nature of his interest in the plaintiff.”

“Any apparent consent was vitiated by the Defendant’s fraud, including his deliberate misrepresentation of his identity, his abuse of his position as a peace officer, his exploitation of confidential information obtained through his employment, his bad faith and the significant imbalance of power and authority he exercised over the Plaintiff,” it reads.

Ms. Benjoe, a journalist in Regina, was engaged in a relationship with Mr. Semenchuck believing him to be a divorced construction contractor named Jay Lewis. She prompted the criminal investigation after discovering his true identity as a married police officer early in 2023, and filing a complaint with the Regina Police Service.

Ms. Benjoe received the supposed wrong-number text while staying in a domestic-violence shelter after filing a police report about a domestic assault.

Ms. Benjoe and Ms. Cyr previously asked the court to remove publication bans shielding their identities and have chosen to be named publicly.

Mr. Semenchuck’s statement of defence acknowledges facts of the case that were presented in court, but otherwise denies the allegations, including that his deceptions invalidated the women’s consent to sexual activity.

“Any physical intimacy that occurred between the Plaintiff and the Defendant … was engaged in with the Plaintiff’s free and voluntary consent,” reads the statement of defence filed by Nicolas Brown, who also represented Mr. Semenchuck on the criminal charges. It says “the occurrence, nature, and extent” of sexual activity is not admitted and will have to be proved in court.

“A deception as to a party’s name, occupation, or personal circumstances does not, at law, vitiate consent to sexual contact …,” the statement of defence reads. “The Defendant denies that his office, his access to information, or any imbalance between the parties vitiated that consent.”

The statement of defence also asserts that the claims of misfeasance, breach of privacy, breach of trust and negligence are outside the two-year statute of limitations, which Mr. Brown argues should have begun when Ms. Benjoe first went forward to police in early 2023.

Mr. Semenchuck was suspended by the Regina Police Service after Ms. Benjoe’s complaint, and retired before his first court appearance in April, 2025.

Thirty-three women were identified as victims in the criminal case, including Ms. Cyr and Ms. Benjoe, with the same pattern of contact spanning over eight years.

Many of the women that Mr. Semenchuck searched and contacted had previously been victims of crimes, such as domestic violence or sexual assault. A small number of the women knew he was a police officer but didn’t know he’d accessed their personal information before they met.

In February, Mr. Semenchuck was sentenced to a two-year conditional sentence in the community with six months of house arrest, based on a joint submission by the Crown and defence. His term of house arrest was completed earlier this month.

The women’s statements of claim describe “serious physical, emotional and dignitary harm,” including severe emotional distress, physical and psychological issues, and a profound loss of trust in authority.

The women are seeking financial compensation, as well as the return or destruction of all intimate images of them.

Mr. Semenchuck’s statement of defence says he doesn’t oppose “an appropriately framed order for the return or destruction of any intimate images of the Plaintiff in his possession or control, without any admission of liability.”

He is asking that the women’s claims be dismissed, with costs awarded to him.