- QNetNews.ca - https://www.qnetnews.ca -

Sudden guilty plea in OPP officer’s assault trial

By Jack Carver [1]

BELLEVILLE – After four emotional days of testimony, the Central Hastings OPP officer accused of assaulting a woman has pleaded guilty to three charges.

The man pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon to one count of assault, one count of mischief and one count of willful damage. He is still facing a charge of aggravated
assault, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

The court will reconvene on Dec. 12 to determine the sentence on the counts to which he pleaded guilty and deal with the aggravated-assault charge.

Justice Richard Byers said that he “wonders if this man’s anger issues will spill onto his work in uniform or another relationship.”

Byers expressed his worry that the officer might be a problem in the future if he does not seek help.

“Is he someone I need to be worried about in another relationship? He has a little girl that he will have forever and he has to take care of,” said Byers. “Will he pay
child support? I will be interested to hear about that.”

The judge then thanked the lawyers for their clean examinations of witnesses and spoke to the jury briefly behind closed doors.

The victim’s family were holding back tears as they left the Quinte courthouse; the accused man’s were patting each other’s backs and smiling on their departure.