Nearly 38 per cent of sexual assaults reported to the Pentiction RCMP were deemed “unfounded” in 2018, according to Statistics Canada.
The alarming statistic is more than double the 15 per cent average across the province and dwarfs the under five per cent averages in Vancouver and Victoria. In Kelowna, nearly 40 per cent of sexual assaults reported in 2018 were also deemed “unfounded.”
According to the data from Penticton, 11 out of 29 incidents reported to police last year were “unfounded.”
Statistics Canada did not provide a definition for the term.
The RCMP and the South Okanagan Women In Need Society did not immediately respond to an interview request.
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