A Delta Police officer has been dismissed following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and providing “false or misleading” information, according to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC).

The dismissal follows findings released in June of this year by Saanich Police Chief Scott Green (as the External Discipline Authority), in relation to allegations that Delta Police Insp. Varun Naidu “engaged in inappropriate sexual communications with a woman interested in employment as a police officer.”

The investigation found Naidu had contacted the woman through social media – initially

communicating about potential employment as a police officer – “but later engaged in

communications of a sexual nature, both via text and in person,” the OPCC said.

At the time of these occurrences, Naidu was “in a position of trust and authority by virtue of being a male, a police officer, a senior officer and someone who could have significant influence on [the woman’s] career aspirations.”

On Tuesday, the OPCC said that during the course of the investigation, Naidu “provided false or misleading evidence when investigators asked about these communications.”

This conduct by Naidu was a “deliberate and calculating effort to establish safeguards that would enable him to engage in a covert and sexually explicit relationship with [the woman],” the OPCC said.

This conduct, the discipline authority furthered, “undermines the reputation of the department and the profession, and has a significant adverse impact on public confidence in police.”

The OPCC noted that Naidu retired prior to the discipline hearing and did not attend it, “but his employment records will reflect that he was dismissed from the Delta Police Department.”

In light of the investigation, Deputy Police Complaint Commissioner Andrea Spindler said the discipline authority “sent a clear message that conduct which exploits a relationship of trust or where there is a power imbalance will attract the most serious of consequences.”