Coroner investigating death of Quebec officer charged after native abuse probe

MONTREAL — The coroner's office in Quebec confirmed Wednesday it is investigating the death of a retired officer recently charged with sexual assault in connection with an investigation into claims of abuse against indigenous women.

Alain Juneau, 56, died in his home Sunday in Rimouski, Que, 300 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, coroner's office spokeswoman Genevieve Guilbault said by email.

"His death is currently under investigation by a coroner and any information related to the probable cause and circumstances surrounding his death will be included in the coroner's report, which will be made public in the coming months," she said.

Juneau, a retired provincial police officer, was charged in November with sexual assault and assault, allegedly committed between 1992 and 1994 in Schefferville, Que., a remote northeastern part of the province near the Newfoundland and Labrador border.

He was one of two retired officers charged after Montreal police concluded a high-profile investigation into claims that indigenous women in northern Quebec were abused by police.

Originally six provincial police officers in the northern town of Val d'Or, Que., were accused of physically and sexually abusing indigenous women following an investigative report by Radio-Canada in 2015.

Quebec’s Public Security Department mandated the Montreal police force to investigate the allegations.

By April 2016, Montreal police had 38 cases of complaints of police abuse, including rape, sexual assault, harassment and so-called “starlight tours,” where police would allegedly take people against their will and drive them far outside town and abandon them.

In November, Crown prosecutors concluded there wasn't enough evidence to charge any of the six provincial police officers originally accused, but brought charges against Juneau and another officer for alleged assault committed in a separate northern town.

Premier Philippe Couillard announced in December the creation of a provincial inquiry into relations between First Nations peoples and various government-run bodies, including the police.