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Former deputy police chief Uday Jaswal made his first court appearance Thursday to face a sexual assault charge laid in June by the province’s Special Investigations Unit.
Jaswal did not attend in person at the Ottawa courthouse as the one-time senior command officer with the Ottawa Police Service was represented at the hearing by his defence lawyer, Ari Goldkind.
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Jaswal is believed to be the highest-ranking Ottawa police officer ever to face such a serious charge in criminal court.
He rose to become deputy chief in Ottawa and was an inspector at the time of the alleged offence in 2011.
In a news release in June, SIU director Joseph Martino said he had reasonable grounds to charge Jaswal with the criminal offence against a woman.
Jaswal was arrested by members of the SIU on June 25 and later released from custody with several conditions, including that he not communicate or go within 100 metres of the woman.
On Thursday, Crown attorney Jason Nicol requested the woman’s identity be shielded by a publication ban, which is customary in cases involving allegations of sexual assault.
A separate publication ban shields details shared in court during Jaswal’s pretrial hearings.
Jaswal’s lawyer, Ari Goldkind, said in June that his client would vigorously defend against what he termed a false accusation and would be seeking the earliest possible trial date.
“The Special Investigations Unit for Ontario has chosen to charge Mr. Jaswal with an allegation that is both opportunistic and factually implausible after a 15-month delay and despite numerous requests for an update by counsel,” Goldkind said.
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He called the allegations “spurious” and insisted the SIU had “no objective evidence to support these allegations.”
Jaswal resigned from the Ottawa Police Service in 2022, nearly two years into a suspension over sexual harassment allegations and just days ahead of an Ontario Civilian Police Commission hearing on the matter.
His resignation led to that hearing being cancelled.
Jaswal had been facing three counts of discreditable conduct and three counts of insubordination under the Police Services Act for allegedly harassing two female Ottawa police officers and sexually harassing and assaulting a female civilian employee.
He had also been charged with two counts of discreditable conduct under the act stemming from his time as a deputy chief with Durham Regional Police Service.
All eight charges were laid by the civilian oversight body for police officers in Ontario.
Jaswal was hired as a deputy chief in Durham in August 2016 after serving more than 20 years with Ottawa police, where he rose to the rank of superintendent. He returned to Ottawa in 2018, when the police services board hired him as a deputy chief.
He is due to appear in court next on his criminal matter on Oct. 10.
With files from Andrew Duffy
ahelmer@postmedia.com
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