Retired London cop charged with sexually assaulting woman who says she tried for years to get help

Warning: This story contains disturbing allegations of sexual abuse

Ontario's police watchdog says it's charging a former officer with the London Police Service (LPS) with two counts of sexual assault dating back to the mid-80s involving a woman who alleges she tried for years to alert the authorities of the abuse.

On February 2, 2022, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was notified of sexual assault allegations against the now retired Edward Lane. The alleged incidents occurred in London between 1985 and 1987 and 1988 and 1991, before Lane retired from the force.

That same year, CBC News reported that Elaine Antone from Oneida Nation of Thames had filed a lawsuit against Lane, the estate of two other late police officers, and the London Police Service.

Antone said the three officers sexually assaulted her for years and officials did nothing to stop it. She also claimed Lane is the father of her two children, which was proven in a paternity test.

On Wednesday, Antone's lawyer Joe Fearon confirmed that his client has been notified by police that Lane is now facing criminal charges. 

A London police spokesperson declined to comment on the case Wednesday, citing the ongoing investigation.

"Notwithstanding that this matter is one of significant public interest, the Special Investigations Unit Act prohibits members of a police service from disclosing information respecting an ongoing investigation," Const. Matt Dawson wrote in an email to CBC. 

Allegations from civil lawsuit

According to Antone, who was 67 at the time of her interview with CBC, Lane began abusing her in or about 1985 when she was approximately 30 years old. She claimed he continued to sexually abuse her on many occasions over the following five years. 

"The plaintiff Antone alleges that the defendant Lane impregnated the plaintiff, Antone, twice, leading to the birth of two children." 

Lane at first denied he was the father of her two daughters, but after paternity tests proved he was, he was ordered by a family court judge to pay child support. CBC News tried unsuccessfully to contact Lane in 2022 for comment. 

The other officers named in Antone's lawsuit, are the estates of Brian Garraway and Keith Bull, who have both died. Garraway and Bull sexually assaulted Antone her over the course of 18 months starting when she was 12 and a third officer's abuse continued for five years, starting when she was 30, the lawsuit from 2022 said. 

Antone says she first reported the abuse to police and the SIU in early 1994, when she called the then police chief, Julian Fantino, and said she was worried one of the officers, the one who abused her in her 30s, was harming other women, according to documents filed with Ontario Superior Court. 

Lane is required to appear in court in London on March 12 for the criminal proceedings.