A Victoria Police officer has been suspended after allegations of grooming and blackmailing a young woman have come to light.
On Tuesday, December 12th, VicPD announced they are suspending the officer due to a “complaint of misconduct.”
The alleged victim of this misconduct, who will be referred to simply as Felicia, told Victoria Buzz she had been known to the officer since she was 15-years-old.
She says that he groomed her, blackmailed her and ignored her when she was sexually assaulted by his son.
Following these events, Felicia says she tried to report his actions, but claims that VicPD laughed it off and wouldn’t do anything about it.
“Jose Bingham is a supervisor at Victoria Police Department,” Felicia told Victoria Buzz.
“I have known him since I was a 15-year-old vulnerable youth, as he is the father of my ex-boyfriend.”
She says that her interactions with Bingham began when she was a vulnerable youth and addicted to drugs because she would stay at his home with her ex-boyfriend.
“I always looked up to Jose as a protective police officer and someone who would keep me safe,” she explained.
In 2022, Felicia says she and Bingham would meet for coffee at a time in her life when she was struggling with problems she was having in her relationship with his son. Soon, the dynamic changed in her and Bingham’s relationship in which she says he would text and call her every day.
According to Felicia, Bingham would take her calls while on duty, sharing details of ongoing investigations, including names, he then began “commenting flirtatiously” on her photos on social media and they would “talk sexually” while he was on duty.
“In April 2023, Jose and I discussed having an intimate relationship, but he said he was gonna take sex-tapes of me as a reassurance I don’t tell his wife and family, otherwise he would post it online,” Felicia told Victoria Buzz.
She specified that he withheld these videos from her so she would not have any proof.
Then in May, Felicia says she was sexually assaulted by Bingham’s son and she informed him of what had occurred instantly afterward, but he did not report what had occurred or encourage her to report the assault.
“I reported both of these incidents to the Victoria Police Department in June 2023,” said Felicia.
“Many police officers at this department laughed at me, because they were adamant that Jose wouldn’t do any of this. Then, one of the officers told me that this was a ‘personal issue’ and hung up the phone on me.”
Felicia explained that she eventually was able to give a statement to a VicPD officer, but when she phoned VicPD a few days later to inquire about the complaint. She says she asked for the police file number, but was told there wasn’t one because it was not a criminal matter.
“I asked them if they would at least like to see my evidence and they instantly turned me down saying there was no need to see evidence,” she recounted.
“Since then, I’ve had two criminal investigations be denied by the crown, as they don’t believe Jose has done anything that constitutes a criminal investigation.”
“The crown said, Jose knowing a crime occurred and failing to report is acceptable, because he had a personal relationship with me,” Felicia explained.
She says she is worried that Bingham will not face any repercussions and says she believes he is a danger to society as a police officer.
“How come police officers hold us accountable to be law abiding citizens, but they are allowed to extort others and withhold crimes,” Felicia said.
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VicPD says that earlier this year they did pass the complaint along to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC), but did not specify when that occurred.
Going forward, the OPCC has assigned this investigation to the Vancouver Police Department Discipline Authority (VPDDA).
The VPDDA say this week they received new information regarding the complaint which they say was grounds for Bingham to be suspended, effective immediately.
Contrary to Felicia’s recounting of events transpired, VicPD say they take these types of allegations seriously.
They say they will be supporting this investigation, but will not be sharing any further details at this time.
