A Belleville police officer has been commended for her expert, compassionate, and persistent work that brought a sex offender to justice.
Detective Constable Stephanie Bested was recognized by the Belleville Police Services Board Tuesday.
The investigation, involving historical sexual assault allegations, began in 2017 and involved a father violently assaulting a daughter between the ages of five and seven, and his wife.
Detective Constable Bested stayed on the case for five years and Acting Belleville Police Chief Chris Barry says building a trusting relationship with the victims who’d suffered such traumatizing abuse was a key to a successful arrest.
“We have to maintain those relationships and support them or else when it does come to trial, in this case five years later, we’re going to have a victim that’s going to be comfortable coming forward and testifying.”
Last March the father was convicted and sent to prison for nine years.
Investigators on such heinous crimes are also provided support by the police service because of the often gruesome and repulsive nature of the incidents.
