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“Even a good quality, thorough investigation cannot always determine if an incident did or did not happen.”

The report suggests a new category — aside from the usual “founded” and “unfounded” assessments for cases — would be helpful. Slightly more than 17 per cent (49 of the 284 cases) would be better suited for a category of “founded — unable to substantiate,” the report says.

The Saskatoon Sexual Assault and Information Centre issued a news release Wednesday to voice its support for the new category. It would be useful for cases where police believe a sexual assault happened, but cannot gather enough evidence for a conviction, the release stated.

The review found two cases that should have been classified as “founded.” One involved a brother who may have been under 12, the age at which criminal charges can be laid, when he sexually assaulted his younger sister. The family did not want charges laid and are working with social services, the report says.

In the other case, police could not contact an alleged rape victim for further information after an initial statement and a rape kit that seemed to support the claim.

For the most part, the sexual assault files reviewed did not involve “violent rape,” and most of the “unfounded” cases were ruled that way due to issues like consent, intent and the complainant’s age, according to the report.

“The review showed the quality and thoroughness of the reports,” it states. The “complexity” of sexual offences and the number of different offences under the main category account for the high numbers of unfounded cases, the report adds.