Constables Joshua Cabero, Leslie Nyznik and Sameer Kara are charged with sexual assault and gang sexual assault.
The officers, who had been previously suspended, were arrested Thursday morning. The alleged victim is a parking enforcement officer.
The accused were released on $15,000 bail after a brief hearing in a north Toronto courtroom around noon on Thursday.
They were ordered to avoid all contact with the complainant, and with each other, except through their attorney. They are also barred from possessing weapons and possessing or consuming alcohol.
The officers were led into a glass walled prisoners’ box in the courtroom at about 11:30 a.m. They stood, in near identical black jackets, throughout the proceeding, speaking only to acknowledge the conditions of their release. They are due back in court on March 20.
A publication ban was imposed on both the victim’s identity and the evidence heard Thursday.
The complainant came forward roughly two weeks ago, police union president Mike McCormack said.
“We’ve been meeting with the complainant and we will continue to offer the support she needs,” said Mr. McCormack.
The three officers were all off-duty at the time of the alleged offences on Jan. 17, police said.
Reached on the phone, Const. Nyznik’s mother declined to comment on Thursday.
She said her daughter is a reporter, her husband is a newsman and “I know not to speak” before hanging up.
All three officers were attached to 51 Division — which covers part of downtown Toronto from Yonge Street to the Don Valley Parkway between Bloor Street and the Lakeshore.
Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash said a mandatory professional standards investigation will commence once the criminal case has concluded. The maximum penalty is dismissal, he added.
“They continue to be suspended and the law requires that if they’re suspended, they’re suspended with pay,” said Mr. Pugash.
Toronto Mayor John Tory called the allegations “very disturbing” and declined to comment further. He took no issue with longstanding rules around suspending officers with pay in such circumstances.
“They’re very difficult matters, because a lot of people would say, ‘well we should take your pay away now when people aren’t working,'” he said. “But we do have a fundamental presumption that I think most people would want applied to them as well, which is that you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty.”
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) — the police watchdog tasked with investigating when police are involved in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault — was notified of the allegations “some time ago,” SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon said.
But SIU didn’t pursue the case because the officers are alleged to have been off-duty at the time, she said.
The officers, who had been previously suspended, were arrested Thursday morning. The alleged victim is a parking enforcement officer.
The accused were released on $15,000 bail after a brief hearing in a north Toronto courtroom around noon on Thursday.
They were ordered to avoid all contact with the complainant, and with each other, except through their attorney. They are also barred from possessing weapons and possessing or consuming alcohol.
The officers were led into a glass walled prisoners’ box in the courtroom at about 11:30 a.m. They stood, in near identical black jackets, throughout the proceeding, speaking only to acknowledge the conditions of their release. They are due back in court on March 20.
A publication ban was imposed on both the victim’s identity and the evidence heard Thursday.
The complainant came forward roughly two weeks ago, police union president Mike McCormack said.
“We’ve been meeting with the complainant and we will continue to offer the support she needs,” said Mr. McCormack.
The three officers were all off-duty at the time of the alleged offences on Jan. 17, police said.
Reached on the phone, Const. Nyznik’s mother declined to comment on Thursday.
She said her daughter is a reporter, her husband is a newsman and “I know not to speak” before hanging up.
All three officers were attached to 51 Division — which covers part of downtown Toronto from Yonge Street to the Don Valley Parkway between Bloor Street and the Lakeshore.
Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash said a mandatory professional standards investigation will commence once the criminal case has concluded. The maximum penalty is dismissal, he added.
“They continue to be suspended and the law requires that if they’re suspended, they’re suspended with pay,” said Mr. Pugash.
Toronto Mayor John Tory called the allegations “very disturbing” and declined to comment further. He took no issue with longstanding rules around suspending officers with pay in such circumstances.
“They’re very difficult matters, because a lot of people would say, ‘well we should take your pay away now when people aren’t working,'” he said. “But we do have a fundamental presumption that I think most people would want applied to them as well, which is that you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty.”
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) — the police watchdog tasked with investigating when police are involved in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault — was notified of the allegations “some time ago,” SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon said.
But SIU didn’t pursue the case because the officers are alleged to have been off-duty at the time, she said.
