ONTARIO’S Special Investigations Unit on Tuesday charged former Ottawa Police deputy chief Uday Jaswal with one count of sexual assault following an investigation into an incident that occurred in 2011 while he was an inspector with the Ottawa Police Service. He is scheduled to appear in court on July 18.

Jaswal resigned from the Ottawa Police Service in February 2022.

The SIU said in a press release that the Ottawa Police Service notified the unit of the incident on March 13, 2023, and it launched an investigation. As a result of the SIU investigation, Jaswal is charged with one count of sexual assault.

He was arrested by members of the SIU on Tuesday and subsequently released on several conditions, including not to communicate with the woman; not to go within 100 m of the woman; and not to possess a firearm, crossbow, prohibited weapon, restricted weapon, prohibited device, ammunition, prohibited ammunition or explosive substance and to surrender those in his possession.

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians.

The Ottawa Police Service said in a statement that it “is mindful of the impact on the community and our members. We encourage anyone who needs support to reach out to available resources.”

It added: “We urge victims to report any such incident to police. Investigators will respect a victim’s wish to pursue or not pursue an investigation or criminal charges.”