Ottawa police officer charged with sexual assault, breach of trust

An Ottawa police officer who has been suspended with pay since February has been charged with sexual assault and breach of trust by Ontario's police watchdog, CBC News has learned.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) charged Const. Sundeep Singh, a patrol officer, on Tuesday.

He was released on a promise to appear in court on Oct. 29.

Singh was suspended Feb. 12, 2021, according to police board documents that list the start and end date of all Ottawa police officer suspensions.

The board asked for an update on those suspensions after the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) unilaterally decided it would no longer inform its own membership when all officers were suspended. Singh's was the first suspension under that new policy.

One of 16 suspended officers

According to its website, the SIU received an allegation of sexual assault on Feb. 9 against an OPS officer. The SIU said Tuesday that the sexual assault allegedly occurred a few days earlier, on or around Feb. 5.

The agency investigates any allegations of serious injury, firearm discharge, death or sexual assault involving police in the province.

According to police board documents, Singh was one of the officers hired in the force's December 2017 class of 14 recruits. Three of those officers are now suspended with pay amid serious criminal and misconduct allegations.

Const. Andrew Chronopoulos, one of the recruits, was criminally charged with corruption-related offences in an alleged tow-truck kickback scheme in April 2020.

Another recruit, Const. Jesse Hewitt, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of misconduct under the Police Services Act in June 2021 for recording and mocking people in his custody, circulating those videos among other officers and illegally entering a home.

According to CBC News records, there are currently 16 Ottawa police officers who are suspended with pay from the force.