Ottawa cop granted conditional discharge after pleading guilty to assaulting 13-year-old boy at CHEO

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Ottawa police Const. Muhammad Omair Khan was granted a conditional discharge in court Thursday after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a handcuffed, defenceless 13-year-old boy who was in his custody and in the midst of a mental health crisis in a CHEO hallway in 2022.

Ontario Court Justice Geoffrey Griffin made a statutory order for Khan to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for 12 months, along with one year of probation. He is to have no contact with the youth or his family. Khan was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service as part of his sentence. The judge did not impose a weapons ban or a DNA sample order.

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The conditional discharge means Khan will remain with the Ottawa Police Service pending a professional standards review and a disciplinary hearing. A criminal conviction would have “certainly” jeopardized any of Khan’s future policing prospects, his defence lawyer said.

The judge cited the numerous letters of support he received from Khan’s family and his policing colleagues, along with a chief’s commendation in 2021, a meritorious service award in 2016, positive performance reviews and a glowing reference from the Ottawa West Community Health Centre, all describing Khan as an “exemplary” officer with no disciplinary history.

His lawyer, James Foord, said Khan was “a good person and a good cop” who pleaded guilty at an early opportunity and had demonstrated he wanted to learn from his mistake.

“The judge found that Const. Khan made a mistake,” Foord said following Thursday’s hearing. “The incident was over a very short duration, it didn’t cause injuries, and after it happened, he took steps through counselling to gain insight into avoiding it happening again and to be a better cop.

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“The judge accepted his remorse as genuine and, therefore, found that a properly informed member of the public would find that this (sentence) is not contrary to the public interest.

“In fact, Const. Khan is and has always been a very valuable member of the police force.”

Khan has undergone counselling since the assault and has already logged numerous community service hours volunteering with his local mosque.

“He said it best: He wants to learn from this to be a better officer,” Foord said. “He’s a good person who made a mistake in challenging, provocative circumstances.”

The Nov. 6, 2022, assault was captured on surveillance video in the CHEO hallway, and Ottawa police were alerted to the incident by hospital staff.

Khan is seen on the video lunging toward the youth and grabbing him around the jaw before throwing him to the floor.

The youth was seated in a chair and posing no physical threat to the officer or anyone else at the time, Crown Attorney Timothy Kavanagh told the judge during a hearing in April.

Khan’s defence lawyers said their client was provoked by a steady tirade of “racially ignitable” slurs from the “extremely belligerent” youth, who has Tourette syndrome and had been experiencing a violent breakdown when he was apprehended by Khan and his partner under the Mental Health Act earlier in the night.

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The officer and his partner responded to a 911 emergency dispatch for a terrified family who had barricaded themselves in a bedroom after their 13-year-old son choked his sister and threatened to kill his parents with a kitchen knife.

The youth, whose identity is shielded by a publication ban, was taken into custody just after 11 p.m. and driven to CHEO for an assessment. The assault occurred just after midnight.

“I overreacted. It was wrong,” Khan told the judge in April. “My wish is to help in difficult times and I would like to apologize to (the youth) and to the community.”

Khan, 42, was assigned to administrative duties after he was charged with one count of assault by the Ottawa Police Service’s professional standards unit in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in April.

The judge’s decision on Thursday recognized “the significance of this type of offence,” Foord said.

“There was a breach of trust with an adolescent with mental health problems, in a hospital setting … all of those factors (Griffin) found to be aggravating,” Foord said Thursday.

“And, in the absence of other factors, and considering Const. Khan’s remorse, the steps he’s taken, the counselling, the community service … all of those were ample to address those issues.”

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Foord said the Edelson Law firm would continue to represent Khan through the disciplinary process.

Ottawa Police Association president Matthew Cox said in a statement Thursday the union would continue to support Khan.

“The incident involving Const. Khan was unfortunate and we understand these incidents can impact the public’s opinion of our members,” Cox said.

“Const. Khan agreeing to plead guilty demonstrates he has taken responsibility for his actions; we believe this is the first step in moving forward.

“As in all cases where criminal charges have been laid a Professional Standards investigation will be commenced and we will add no further comment at this time.”

No date has yet been set for the OPS disciplinary tribunal.

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