N.L. paper apologizes for headline critics said blamed sex-case complainant
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — A Newfoundland newspaper has issued an apology for a headline some readers said blamed the victim of an alleged sexual assault by a police officer.
Steve Bartlett, managing editor of the Telegram in St. John’s, N.L., said in a letter to readers that the headline writer was trying to draw attention to the role consent plays in the allegations against Const. Carl Snelgrove of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.
“There was no intent to blame or judge the complainant, or to imply she was responsible for what happened,” wrote Bartlett in a letter published in Monday’s paper. “But that’s how, understandably, many of you interpreted it.”
Snelgrove is accused of sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman he drove home from a bar while on duty in December 2014.