No jail time for former Regina police officer who snooped on 33 victims

“Thirty-three women don’t want to leave their house … you screwed my mother over pretty hard, buddy,” said one of the women in the courtroom when Beaton adjourned the sentencing.

The 22-year veteran police officer pleaded guilty to breach of trust and unauthorized use of a computer.

Semenchuck snooped through police databases to send a “wrong text” to make connections with 33 victims, according to an agreed statement of facts from the Crown and defence.

Judge Beaton accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence for Semenchuck’s sentencing, calling his actions “illegal and immoral.”

“I understand there may be certain victims that would be seeking a greater penalty,” said defence lawyer Nick Brown. “It’s important in these cases that the sentences are based on the law, especially when there’s a joint submission put before the court.”

Beaton said she accepted the submission because it was contrary to the public’s interest.

Crown prosecutor Chris Browne said a sentence was pursued that the judge accepted as appropriate.

“Victims are entitled to their opinions,” he said. “They feel, how they feel, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Semenchuck sat facing forward, expressionless, as the sentencing commenced.

He will serve his sentence with a list of conditions.

Semenchuck will not be able to use a computer, phone, or other electronic device to access the internet, unless it’s been pre-approved for educational purposes.

He will serve the first six months of the sentence under house arrest with electronic monitoring.

Semenchuck will be barred from contacting or referencing the victims online.

‘Deplorable’ actions

Shortly after the sentence came down in court, a few blocks away Regina Police Chief Lorilee Davies stepped up to a podium at the police headquarters.

She called what Semenchuck did deplorable, appalling, and gut-wrenching, saying they did damage to the victims as well as the police service.

“When someone breaches our privacy policy, disregards their oath of office, bypasses all of our training and security measures we have in place in such an egregious manner, it calls into question the ethics and accountability of all of our members,” said Davies.

She said the public’s perception of the police should be based on the great work they do every day, but right now it isn’t.

The police are going to build the public trust back, according to Davies, by serving the community compassion, professionalism and integrity every day. She said the service has also been working on and improving its systems and oversight to stop such crimes from happening again, and is constantly looking at best practices.

Davies was asked how responsibility should be portioned out between Semenchuck and the police service that hired him.

“It’s awful that this happened under our watch, that he was a member of our police service, that he took advantage of our systems, took advantage of what he knew he could get away with, essentially, so, for me, that’s awful that that happened here. But I can’t apologize for his failure of morality,” she said.

She said there’s a very strict recruiting process, members have to swear an oath, they’re trained, and now there are audits of the system.

“At some point we do have to trust that people are here for the right reasons; the fact that he clearly wasn’t is a concern,” said Davies.

The other members, according to Davies, are happy to now have this behind them, and that they don’t want to be painted with the same brush as Semenchuck.

Victims speak on shame and fear at sentencing hearing

Semenchuck began messaging victims – sometimes under a different name – in February 2015 and continued until April 2023, according to court documents.

Some of the nearly three dozen victims shared their feelings of fear and anxiety that Semenchuck’s actions caused at a sentencing hearing in late January.

“I am embarrassed,” said one victim. “I am ashamed that someone as strong as myself became a victim of someone who held such a position of power and I had no idea for years.”

Some victims questioned how Semenchuk could use his “badge as a shield and authority as a weapon” instead of helping others.

“He is not someone who made a mistake,” said one victim. “He is a coward who abuses power, a monster who preys on vulnerability.”

Regina Police Service first became aware of Semenchuck inappropriately accessing information from the internal databases when a victim came forward who had discovered his identity wasn’t “Jay Robert Lewis,” according to an agreed statement of facts.

One victim said she chose to move away from Regina in fear that Semenchuck might go after her.

Semenchuck was suspended during the investigation and eventually resigned from the police department.

Some victims shared that their trust in the police was shattered by this situation.

“I do not understand how or why I was singled out and pursued by Robert,” said the victim. “Every time I see and officer, I wonder if they might do the same thing to me.”

— with files from 980CJME’s Lisa Schick

by CJME/Gillian Massie

No jail time for former Regina police officer who snooped on 33 victims

‘Deplorable’ actions

Victims speak on shame and fear at sentencing hearing

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