Officer's former girlfriend who discovered nude pictures shared them with multiple people

The former girlfriend of a Brandon police officer admitted in court that she shared nude photos of multiple women without their permission after she found them in the officer's email account.

Terri-Lyn Peters took the virtual stand on the second day of a civil trial out of Brandon Tuesday.

She is being sued by Brittany Roque, a former Brandon police cadet, who had an affair with Peters' then-boyfriend Ryan Friesen in 2015. 

Peters, a former civilian employee with Brandon police, told the court after she found about 100 photos of women in Friesen's Hotmail account, she forwarded them to herself and then sent them to other people including the husband of one woman who was topless.

She also sent an intimate image to the best friend of one woman she knew.

"I am sorry that I sent that. It was poor judgment on my part. I regrettably accept that. If I could excuse it, I would say that I was distraught, I was shocked. I was hurt," she testified Tuesday.

Peters testified that she became suspicious of her boyfriend after he cheated on her in 2012, and she discovered he had been saving numbers of women in his phone under aliases like his mom or sister.

She testified when she confronted Friesen he told her he didn't want to live anymore and said "'I'm just going to eat my gun.' At one point he told me he was lying on the floor with his gun in his mouth just to attempt to gain control of the conversation."

After she found the photos, she sent them to herself and called Brandon Deputy Chief Wayne Balcaen. Randy Lewis, the then-deputy chief of operations, then came to her home and collected them.

She testified she told Lewis that "I have information regarding the potential and current police officers and it does include images of people in various stages of undress." 

Roque testified Monday while she was applying to become a police officer, she was told to withdraw her application after the force was given the nude images Peters discovered.

Roque's husband Michael Andrew Dixon, who is another Brandon police officer, said his wife became consumed with fear after her photos were shared, but confirmed neither he or his wife asked Peters to stop sharing the images.

"When she distributed the photos she had the power, and Brittany expressed to me and I felt the exact same way, very powerless in those moments, and by having to go and beg her to destroy images, we did not feel that that was going to work. That would only incite more damage and her to continue with her actions."

Peters told the court she still has the images and hasn't deleted them because she's been asked to provide them for criminal offences, which she didn't elaborate on.

"I can't wait to the day that I can get rid of these images," Peters said.

Justice Sandra Zinchuk is overseeing the civil trial which continues Wednesday.