A 20-month long investigation by the Globe and Mail has found one of every five sexual assault allegations in Canada is dismissed as unfounded.
Locally, Windsor does better as only 3% of sexual assault allegations are considered baseless but on the other hand, LaSalle had a higher than average rate which were unfounded.
Speaking on AM800's the Afternoon News, Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Centre of Essex County Lydia Fiorini says the definition of a sexual assault case can also vary.
"Many times a victim will go to the police and report it, but they don't want to engage in the criminal justice process," says Fiorini. "They would rather that police are aware that there is someone out there committing sexual assaults instead of going through the entire process."
LaSalle police issued a statement Tuesday morning on the report re-assuring the public that all reports of sexual assault are taken very seriously. It says out of the 36 police officers, five are qualified sexual assault investigators, three of them are female.
Between 2010 and 2014, LaSalle police investigated 59 sexual assaults and 16 were determined to be unfounded while 22 cases resulted in criminal charges.