Sudbury OPP officer pleads guilty to stealing evidence during moose hunt investigation

A veteran staff sergeant with the Ontario Provincial Police in Sudbury has been sentenced for stealing two items from a First Nations man and hiding what he did while his fellow officers searched for them.

Straun Frederiksen, 53, received 12 months of probation, a criminal conviction is now on his record and he must complete 75 hours of community service.

He also faces a disciplinary hearing with the OPP.

The case began in 2019 when OPP in Sudbury made an arrest connected to an illegal moose hunt. Following the charges, several firearms, scopes, straps and accessories were seized.

The items were placed in the OPP property vault, for which Frederiksen was responsible. As part of a plea deal in November 2020, one firearm was to be returned to the First Nations man "to allow him to carry out his cultural traditions and hunt for sustenance purposes," the court decision said.

He requested a specific rifle and strap, which he said would be easy to recognize "as the strap attached to it had cultural beadwork on it and a scope."

The man "wanted the strap returned as it was a gift to him from his late wife and had sentimental and spiritual value to him," the decision said.

It emerged later that Frederiksen had stolen both the strap and the scope. But from the time the items were requested until February 2022, his colleagues searched for the items in vain, at one point concluding they had been destroyed and offering to replace them.

"Several months later, on Feb. 23, 2022, Mr. Frederiksen called OPP Insp. Maville and confessed he had taken the beaded strap and scope to his home and subsequently threw them in the garbage," the decision said.

"On March 11, 2022, the OPP Professional Standards Unit obtained an audio statement from Insp. Maville who confirmed the call and expressed concern that Mr. Frederiksen had been involved in the ordeal to attempt to locate the item, had knowledge of his colleagues’ extensive efforts and had not said anything earlier. Insp. Maville advised that Mr. Frederiksen was extremely apologetic and remorseful when he made the disclosure."

The court detailed that Frederiksen had a spotless record prior to his offence, came forward not because he had been caught, but because his conscience was bothering him, and was extremely apologetic.

He had been suffering from severe PTSD related to fatal car collisions he had investigated, the death of a colleague in the line of duty, as well as depression.

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"He reports losing the friendship of many of his colleagues because of his actions. He feels shame and embarrassment," the court said.

"Despite this professional falling out, the offender has an enormous amount of community support. This is evident from the full courtroom at his sentencing hearing and from the 66 letters of support that were filed on his behalf, including from current and past colleagues, friends, family members, church members and neighbours. Those who know the offender well view his conduct in this matter to be completely out of character."

However, the judge declined to grant Frederiksen a conditional discharge, ruling that it would "be contrary to the public interest."

"A discharge would risk signalling to the public that this conduct is excused by the previous good character and professional service of the offender," the judge wrote.

"It would risk contributing to the fraught relationship between Indigenous persons and the criminal justice system, rather than promote reconciliation."

However, there was no need for jail time, the judge ruled, and that one-year probation along with conditions was an appropriate sentence in the case.

Read the full decision here.