Toronto Police Sgt. Christopher Heard has been charged with sexual assault
twice in the past two months.
The Special Investigations Unit announced
the second charge Thursday, after director Tony Loparco concluded, following
an investigation of an alleged incident last November, that there are
“reasonable grounds to believe the officer committed the criminal offence of
sexual assault.”
It’s alleged that in the early hours of Nov. 1, 2015, a 25-year-old woman
was picked up by an officer, identified as Heard, who offered to drive her
home.
The woman alleges she was sexually assaulted along the way.
Heard was already facing one charge of sexual assault for a
similar incident on Sept. 24, 2015, when it’s alleged he assaulted a
27-year-old woman after picking her up in the same area and offering her a
ride home in his police vehicle.
Both incidents occurred in the area of Blue Jays Way last fall.
A
spokesperson for Toronto police confirmed that at the time of the incidents
Heard was working out of 52 Division and supervising a group of constables
in the area.
Meaghan Gray, a communications officer with TPS, said that after the
first charge Heard was suspended, then reinstated and “assigned to other
duties.”
“Upon learning of the second charge being laid, he has been suspended
with pay,” she added.
When asked whether or not the agency believes there may be other victims,
given the similarity of the incidents, the SIU lined to comment.
