A police disciplinary hearing involving misconduct allegations against a Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officer has been delayed until next month — mainly due to the fact the officer at the centre of the proceedings is currently behind bars.
Const. Jarrott Forsyth — who is facing three counts of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act — is being held in custody on criminal charges for allegedly breaching a probation order.
Forsyth was charged in January after he allegedly breached his probation order by contacting a woman he was convicted of assaulting and threatening to kill.
The constable's bail was subsequently denied in the Ontario Court of Justice during a scheduled court appearance on Feb. 6. An order barring Forsyth from communicating with the same woman was also issued during the same hearing.
The allegations have yet to be tested in court and Forsyth is considered innocent unless proven guilty.
In January 2024, Forsyth pleaded guilty to assaulting and threatening to kill a woman, admitting that he grabbed her neck during an argument on June 11, 2023. The death threats occurred between January 2020 and August 2023.
SooToday has chosen not to report on certain details of the case that could identify the victim.
The constable was handed a suspended sentence, which included 18 months probation and an order to provide a DNA sample.
While a proposed three-year weapons prohibition was not imposed in the final sentencing, court documents have since revealed that an application for a weapons ban was brought against Forsyth in July of last year.
Joel Dubois, a lawyer for Sault Ste. Marie Police Service who is prosecuting the disciplinary hearing, proposed that Forsyth's matter be put over for about a month during a brief hearing held Tuesday.
Dubois also noted that the forensic psychologist providing medical evidence in the disciplinary hearing has yet to “have access” to Forsyth.
The Police Services Act proceedings are scheduled to resume May 22.
- with files from Linda Richardson and Kenneth Armstrong