OPP officer guilty of sex assault dismissed after years on paid leave

An Ontario Provincial Police officer convicted of multiple criminal offences has been dismissed after years of being on paid leave.

Former Const. Jason Redmond of the Leeds County OPP detachment was terminated Thursday after abandoning his appeal to overturn a dismissal order set to be heard this month, the force said Friday.

“The corrupt, disgraceful and criminal behaviour of this individual is inconsistent with the exemplary conduct of OPP members and our values of serving Ontarians with pride, professionalism and honour,” Commissioner Thomas Carrique said in a written statement.

The Brockville Recorder and Times previously reported that Redmond, who had been suspended, was on paid leave since 2015 stemming from a drug trafficking investigation, which he was convicted for in 2018. In February he was found guilty of sexual assault.

A judge found Redmond raped a woman while she was unconscious and made a video of the assault on his phone to “teach her a lesson,” the newspaper reported.

An adjudicator ordered the constable to be dismissed from the OPP, but the officer appealed, meaning he could still collect his salary.

The case raised questions for provincial legislators earlier this year as they had yet to put into effect an overhaul of a policing law that allows suspended officers to receive pay, even if they’re charged or convicted of a serious offence, unless they’re sentenced to prison. Redmond was sentenced to probation, not imprisonment, for his initial drug trafficking conviction.

Premier Doug Ford’s government brought in the Community Safety and Policing Act in 2019, which allowed a police chief to suspend officers without pay if they’re charged with a serious offence, as well as introducing other changes to police oversight.

Ontario is the only province in which chiefs can’t revoke the pay of suspended officers, who collect millions of dollars each year. But the 2019 law is still not in force because the government has not finished drawing up all associated regulations, such as what constitutes a “serious offence” under the new rules. It has said it hopes to have the law enacted in late 2023 or early 2024.

Carrique has said OPP has been trying to dismiss the former constable since his first conviction.

“The OPP acknowledges this has been a lengthy and difficult journey for the victims in this matter,” he said, also noting the situation’s impact on OPP members.

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