The Ontario Provincial Police will begin looking into close to 4000 sexual assault cases from the past five years following a damaging report in the Globe and Mail. 
The newspaper found that one in five sexual assault claims are dismissed as “unfounded” meaning the investigating officer doesn’t believe a crime actually took place.
In rural Chatham-Kent, which is covered by the OPP, the unfounded rate is 21%. That number rises to 31% for the urban areas.
Commissioner Vince Hawkes says the OPP takes all reports of sexual assault and violence seriously, and will spend the next few weeks re-examining the cases.
“We want to ensure that all reports during that period were properly classified when received,” Hawkes says, “that the incidents were appropriately investigated; and, that the correct classification was used when the investigation was completed.”
Any sexual assault claim that they believe wasn’t properly investigated will be reopened.
