OPP officer sentenced to 6 years for sexually assaulting, filming unconscious woman by Dan Taekema, June 16, CBC News
WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
An Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer has been sentenced to six years for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman while recording it on his mobile phone.
Jason Redmond wore a dark suit and a blue medical mask as he stood in a Brockville courtroom Friday morning to hear his sentence read. He did not speak as he was taken into custody.
The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, stood and tearfully hugged people in the gallery as he was escorted out.
Justice Janet O’Brien found Redmond’s moral culpability was “extraordinarily high,” saying the evidence she heard indicated he felt no shame or regret and wasn’t apologetic the morning after the incident, but was instead “angry and righteous.”
She noted he kept the video, told friends about it and, based on the testimony of a witness, appeared to think it was funny.
The judge said as a police officer, Redmond knows the law and would have known the victim could not consent.
“During his training and experience as a police officer, Mr. Redmond understood the harm and trauma victims of violent crime suffer,” O’Brien said. “Mr. Redmond was at best indifferent to the harm he caused … his intimate partner.”
Redmond ‘proving a point’
The Leeds County officer was convicted of sexual assault on Feb. 16, roughly five years after the incident in December 2017.
According to one witness, Redmond was “proving a point” to the victim that she had a drinking problem, and “he made the video to show that anybody could rape her,” the judge read in her ruling.
Crown attorney Peter Napier suggested last month Redmond be sentenced to five to seven years in custody, describing what happened as a “horrendous sexual assault” that called for an “exemplary sentence.”
The Crown also pointed to the fact that Redmond remains a police officer, saying he should have know the harm he was causing and “the fact he tried to show everyone what he had done was just deplorable.”
Defence lawyer Karin Stein argued for two or three years behind bars, the bottom end of the typical range for sentencing.
She told court Redmond has received death threats and is dealing with trauma and an addiction to crack cocaine. Stein also said her client does not plan to return to his role as a police officer.
During sentencing, the judge ruled the assault was not the result of impulsivity or impaired judgment due to the accused’s background or ongoing struggles, saying he continued to blame the victim and justify his actions.
“This illustrates his contempt for [the victim] and callous disregard for her sexual autonomy and psychological well being,” she said. “This confirms the sexual assault was not a lapse in judgment or out of character for Mr. Redmond … the sexual assault was a calculated, deliberate act.”
O’Brien referred to a victim impact statement where the complainant described how the event felt “so heavy and so shameful,” leading [her] to become guarded, lonely and feeling unsafe.
The judge considered it an aggravating factor that Redmond had violated the victim’s trust and assaulted her while she was unconscious and had “no ability to defend herself.”
The circumstances of the case called for a “heavy sentence” above the normal range, O’Brien said.
“Mr. Redmond’s conduct must be denounced in the clearest of terms.”
He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim or her family, must provide a DNA sample and must comply with the sexual offender registry for 10 years.
Officer also found guilty of assault
Redmond was convicted last Friday of nine other violent offences in connection with a separate court matter.
O’Brien found him guilty of five counts of assault, three counts of assault causing bodily harm and one count of assault with a weapon.
That victim’s identity is also protected by a publication ban. She is not the same person as the complainant in Redmond’s conviction for sexual assault.
His legal history also includes a conviction for drug drug trafficking, for which he received one year of probation and no jail time.
He’s been on paid leave from the OPP since being charged in that case in 2015.
OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique previously said the force has been seeking to dismiss Redmond since his first conviction.
“This behaviour is unacceptable for any police officer and cannot be tolerated,” Carrique wrote at the time.
Appeal of dismissal from OPP withdrawn
The commissioner said the OPP’s Professional Standards Unit had laid charges under the Police Services Act shortly after Redmond’s initial conviction and an adjudicator ordered he be dismissed from the OPP following his conviction.
However, the officer appealed that decision, which allowed him to continue to collect his salary for the last seven and a half years while being suspended on paid leave.
Redmond’s name was included on the 2021 Ontario Sunshine List, which listed his income as $121,047.96 that year.
An appeal before the Ontario Civilian Police Commission was scheduled to take place in October, but in an email to CBC earlier this week, a spokesperson for the commission said it’s since been withdrawn and the matter is closed.
Stein and her client declined to comment on the move.
A spokesperson for OPP confirmed it’s aware Redmond has withdrawn his appeal, but did not respond to questions about the status of his employment or pay, only adding “additional comment” from the force will be forthcoming.
A bad cop stayed on the payroll for years, committing rape and other serious crimes, Jason Redmond has had multiple criminal convictions while an OPP cop in Brockville, Ont. He was finally sentenced to six years in jail by Sabrina Bedford, Special to National Post, Jun 16, 2023 
In typical patriarchal / con grossness, this article glorifies Redmond, I deleted all the glory. So typical, and so sick.
… The now-disgraced officer, 43, has a total of 12 criminal convictions, all of which he committed while an OPP officer. …
Throughout, Redmond has remained a free man on the OPP’s payroll, suspended with pay. His name was included on the 2021 public sector salary list, where the province annually publishes the names of all public sector employees who were paid $100,000 or more. He made $121,047.96 that year, according to the province.
On Friday morning he was sentenced to six years in jail for sexual assault. Ontario Court Justice Janet O’Brien handed down the sentence in a Brockville, Ont., courtroom.
His defence lawyer Karin Stein declined comment ahead of the sentencing.
…
Redmond claims his leave from 2011 onward was due to the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) he acquired from work-related events.
Stein has highlighted Redmond’s “significant mental health issues” as a factor that has led to his behaviour over the years, along with the fact he suffers with severe drug addiction.
Stein said while her client has made “significant efforts” to rehabilitate himself, he remains an active drug user, and deals with several mental health issues, including major depressive disorder, attention deficit disorder and PTSD as a first responder.Such lawyer frac hooey. Refusing to take full responsibility for one’s actions is sure to keep Mr. Redmond using drugs. The first step towards honest healing and making “significant efforts” to rehabilitate himself, would have been to decline his pay. I’ve suffered my entire adult life with PTSD caused by many rapes as a child. It is hell to live afflicted with PTSD, I agree, but I have not spent my life abusing others or committing crime after crime while stealing taxpayer money. I worked like a fiend, often at two jobs, including through university, made my own income, saved it for years, and sacrificed it all trying to seek justice for the Alberta gov’t and AER engaging in fraud to hide and enable Encana’s frac crimes, directly frac’ing into my community’s drinking water supply, contaminating it. Stealing from taxpayers is assuredly a great way to keep using.
“He’s not been faking it. This is a genuine disorder,” Stein said during a recent sentencing hearing.
Redmond first hit the headlines in 2015, when he was charged as part of Project Arrowtown, a local sting operation targeting illegal drug activity. He was arrested Nov. 12, 2015, and charged with obstruction of justice, three counts of trafficking marijuana, one count of forgery, and one count of breach of trust.
The Project Arrowtown sweep, which involved the RCMP and Montreal police, resulted in two convictions for Redmond in 2018: He pleaded guilty to trafficking marijuana, and a judge found him guilty of dealing in a forged document. Of the remaining four charges, Redmond was found not guilty on one count, two were dismissed and another one was withdrawn.
Although the case dominated headlines in his community at the time, Redmond was already well known in Brockville’s social scene. According to a 2016 OPP Professional Standards Bureau report on Project Arrowtown, a document that laid out the Police Services Act charges against Redmond, the officer had a reputation in the community for years.
“The investigation revealed he spends considerable time socializing at Brockville drinking establishment and is a trusted and influential member of the civilian ‘bar crowd,’” the document reads. “On a consistent basis, PC Redmond represented the OPP poorly in his behaviour and in his manner of conversation, which often was about illicit drug use and the objectification of women.”
Those who know him paint the same picture: He liked to party, was obsessed with his body image (which drove him to steroid use) and impressed by status symbols.
Redmond “enjoys boating, high performance vehicles, womanizing, motorcycling, trucks and handguns,” the OPP report said, adding he “was known to associate with local drug dealers.”
“Redmond is known to be volatile and has a violent past,” it said.
That volatility frequently bubbled to the surface. He was first charged with assault and criminal harassment in 2011, but acquitted at trial. After being cleared of the charges, he eventually returned to active duty and the OPP did not pursue Police Act charges.
Then came Project Arrowtown, the investigation that originally got him suspended from the police force with pay in 2018. The judge sentenced him to 12 months of probation.
Redmond responded by filing a human rights complaint in 2020, alleging the police agency harassed him because of his mental health challenges. In his filing, Redmond said the OPP failed to accommodate his psychological disabilities and continued to harass him because of these disabilities. The case has yet to be heard by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.
In 2021, the OPP began investigating Redmond for allegations of assault against two different women. That’s when he was charged and eventually found guilty, of sexual assault for raping an unconscious woman in 2017 and recording it on his phone.
At trial that took place over two days last August at the Brockville courthouse, three witnesses testified to Redmond bragging about the video and trying to show it to them.
Redmond pleaded not guilty. He denied the allegations, arguing at trial the victim’s inability to remember was not proof she did not consent. Court heard that Redmond made a video of the assault on his phone to “prove” the victim had a drinking problem, and to “teach her a lesson” about how irresponsible she was when consuming alcohol.
The judge found that the victim “did not consent to the sexual touching either because she was unconscious or she was incapable of consenting.” He was convicted this past February.
Simultaneously, the OPP was working on a separate assault case against Redmond involving a second woman. Redmond was initially charged with 17 offences in that case, but six of the charges were dropped before making it to trial.
Redmond again pleaded not guilty, and the case went to trial in March of this year.
Court heard that Redmond assaulted the woman on multiple occasions, including incidents of choking, punching, hitting, pushing, and one where he cut her with a knife during an argument. Graphic photographs presented as evidence at trial showed bruises and cuts on the woman’s body.
The assaults were fuelled by drug use, court revealed. The two often consumed cocaine and crack together, a factor that led to a tumultuous and toxic relationship, Ontario Court Justice Donna Hackett said.
Redmond denied the allegations of abuse. Stein, his lawyer, claimed in her closing arguments the victim had credibility issues due, in part, to her drug addiction.
On June 9, he was found guilty of nine charges in that case — five counts of assault, three counts of assault causing bodily harm and one count of assault with a weapon. He has yet to face sentencing for this crime.
…
… Redmond has gone to rehab three times in recent years. At his most recent trial, court heard he used drugs the day he got back from treatment.
While on paid leave from the force, Redmond continued to collect a taxpayer-funded salary.
The process to fire him that began in 2018 continued until November, 2022, when the adjudicator sided with the OPP and ordered that Redmond be dismissed. He immediately appealed his termination, meaning he would continue to collect his salary.
The matter will be heard by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission on October 5. With his sentencing and incarceration on Friday, he remains employed until his OCPC hearing, but the OPP will finally be able to suspend his pay.
The system that allowed Redmond to remain employed as a police officer for years after multiple convictions is still in place.
Ontario’s solicitor general Michael Kerzner said changes to policing laws governing paid leave are coming. bla bla bla bla, we’ll just keep delaying, the public will forget The Community Safety and Policing Act, a piece of legislation set to replace the Police Services Act, was passed in 2019, but has yet to be put into force.
It will, among other changes, allow a chief of police to suspend an officer without pay if the officer is charged with a serious offence. The government has yet to define what will constitute a criminal offence.
Kerzner said the new law will be in effect by “late 2023 or early 2024.”bla bla bla, bla bla.
Leeds County OPP officer found guilty of nine counts of assault by Sabrina Bedford, June 10, 2023, The Recorder and Times
BROCKVILLE — An Ontario Provincial Police officer in Leeds County was found guilty of nine new counts of assault Friday, adding to a growing list of convictions as his most recent trial came to a close.
Jason Redmond, a Leeds County OPP officer recently convicted of sexual assault for raping an unconscious woman in 2017, was found guilty of nine new counts of assault in a Brockville courtroom Friday afternoon.
Ontario Court Justice Donna Hackett found him guilty on five counts of assault, three counts of assault causing bodily harm, and one count of assault with a weapon.
He was found not guilty of one assault charge against a baby and another for failing to provide the necessaries of life.
The charges stemmed from a criminal investigation that began in 2021 involving multiple allegations of abuse.
Redmond was originally charged with 17 offences when the investigation began, but six of the charges were dropped before making it to trial.And he and his lawyer(s) are getting nicely rewarded by generous taxpayers
He pleaded not guilty.
The case went to trial in March, when seven witnesses were called to the stand, many of whom claimed they saw the woman’s injuries after the abuse happened.
The victim, whose identity was protected by a publication ban, is not the same woman involved in the case related to Redmond’s sexual assault conviction earlier this year.
In this most recent case, the judge found Redmond assaulted the woman on multiple occasions, including incidents of choking, punching, hitting, pushing, and one where he cut her with a knife during an argument.
The two often consumed cocaine and crack together, a factor that led to a tumultuous and toxic relationship, the judge found.
This abuse often left bruises and cuts on the woman’s body, the judge said, making reference to multiple graphic photographs presented as evidence throughout the trial.
The defence denied the allegations of abuse, with lawyer Karin Stein claiming in her closing arguments that the victim had serious reliability and credibility issues due, in part, to her drug addiction.
Because of this, Stein said, the judge couldn’t rely on the woman’s evidence and could not convict her client based on her word alone.
But the judge ultimately found the woman, along with all Crown witnesses, were reliable and credible witnesses.
“After having carefully considered all the evidence, I find there is a significant amount of confirmatory and corroborating evidence before this court from the other seven Crown witnesses. After carefully considering everything, it is my view that the complainant is a credible and reliable witness,” the judge said Friday.
She said the one witness called by the defence was not credible, claiming it was clear he was holding back information while testifying.
This is not Redmond’s first criminal conviction.
In February, a judge in Brockville found him guilty of sexual assault after raping an unconscious woman in 2017 and making a video of it on his phone to “prove” she had a drinking problem and to “teach her a lesson” about how irresponsible she was when consuming alcohol.
He was also convicted in October 2018 for trafficking a controlled substance and using a forged document.
Despite these multiple convictions, he remains on the OPP payroll because the Police Services Act says an officer charged with a criminal offence can only be suspended with pay.
In order for an officer to be suspended without pay, that person must be convicted and sentenced to a term of incarceration. Redmond was not given jail time for his 2018 crimes and has yet to be sentenced for the sexual assault conviction.
Moments after being found guilty on Friday, Redmond quickly left the courtroom, telling his lawyer he was going to the bathroom. He immediately left the building and could be seen in the distance, walking away in the pouring rain.
The matter will be back in court June 16 to set a date for sentencing.
Kurt Jorssen:
They have to set a court date, in order to set another court date for sentencing?It’s all about delay delay delay rewarding the lawyers and rapists as much as possible, hopefully until the public forgets about it. Notably if the rapists are men in positions of authority, like the 3P’s: Police, Priests, Politicians.
Disgraced officer’s employment extended until October by Sabrina Bedford, Jun 09, 2023,
An Ontario Provincial Police officer convicted of sexual assault, drug trafficking, and forgery will remain employed until at least October after his upcoming employment hearing was inexplicably delayed.Not inexplicably. The court giving him what he wanted – to delay sentencing (see below), worked right into his favour. It’s all about milking as much free money out of rapist-rewarding taxpayers as possible. Caveman Canadian Courts rewarding rapists, yet again.
Jason Redmond, a Leeds County OPP officer with multiple convictions under his belt, will not appear before the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) on June 15, when he was scheduled to appeal his termination from the police force.
The OCPC, the agency tasked with adjudicating policing matters, confirmed this week the hearing has been adjourned until October 5. They would not give a reason for the delay.The reason is obvious, it’s to delay and delay and delay, to keep rewarding him for his crimes. Best way for the patriarchy to inspire men to rape and keep raping, is to reward them, and make it public how blatantly rapists are rewarded while harming and shaming or blaming the victims, again and again. But whatever will the patriarchy do now, that their rapist cop is off to prison?
This means his employment will again be extended, further lengthening a process to terminate the officer which began with his original conviction in 2018.
Redmond, who began working with the OPP in the mid-2000s, has been on paid leave since he was originally charged in 2015 in connection with Project Arrowtown.
This high profile case was an 18-month investigation by Leeds County OPP into criminal activity by local police officers, and they eventually charged Redmond with illegal drug activity.
He was convicted in 2018 of drug trafficking and forgery, and more recently, in 2023, of sexual assault for raping an unconscious womanin 2017. His sentencing for that crime is scheduled for June 15, where he is likely to receive jail time. In that case, the defence is asking for a sentence of two to three years in prison, while the Crown attorney said a sentence anywhere between five and seven years would be more appropriate.
According to the Police Services Act, once an officer is sentenced to jail time, the OPP can suspend him without pay.And, there’s the reason for the nice delays – to keep rewarding the rapist and his lawyer. The more money for free the rapist gets, the more money his lawyer gets milking the system to reward rapist. Vicious Circle Jerk, brought to you by the Patriarchy which is protected and financed by the legal-judicial industry and it’s parent, the oil and gas industry and policing – which serves oil and gas companies, rapists and the patriarchy! Damn our rapist-rewarding anti-justice system is disgusting; it needs to change.
Redmond was also in court Friday to hear a judgment on his 11 other criminal charges, including six counts of assault, three counts of assault causing bodily harm, one count of assault with a weapon, and one count of failing to provide the necessaries of life. He was found guilty on nine of those charges.His lawyer appealing?
OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique previously said the agency’s Professional Standards Unit laid charges under the Police Services Act to have Redmond dismissed almost immediately Roaring laughter! after his drug trafficking and forgery conviction.
This was initiated on Nov. 14, 2018, but the hearings were delayed multiple times over the years, the police force said.
The process continued until November 2022 when the adjudicator sided with the OPP and ordered that Redmond be dismissed. He immediately appealed his termination, meaning he would continue to collect his salary.Redmond’s lawyer is making lots of money on Canada’s sick unjust “justice” industry, which is why in my view, so many lawyers so sickly keep defending our system and claiming it is great. FFS.
The appeal hearing was scheduled for June 15, before the OCPC, but yet another delay means his employment will again be extended, and he might continue to collect a taxpayer-funded salary until, and if, his termination is upheld.
The Police Services Act currently says an officer charged with a criminal offence can only be suspended with pay. In order for someone to be suspended without pay, the person must be convicted and be sentenced to a term of incarceration.
Redmond was not given jail time for his 2018 crimes; he was placed on probation for one year by the court, and he has yet to be sentenced for the sexual assault charge.
This enabled him to collect his salary during the OPP’s efforts to remove him from the force, a process governed by the Police Services Act.
The solicitor general says, however, changes to policing laws governing paid leave are coming “as soon as possible.”Under Mr. Patriarchy himself, Doug Ford? Never.
Michael Kerzner said in April discussions surrounding the Community Safety and Policing Act, a piece of legislation set to replace the Police Services Act, will wrap up soon after first being passed in 2019.Four years is soon?
The legislation was passed in 2019, but has yet to be put into force. It will, among other changes, allow a chief of police to suspend an officer without pay if the officer is charged with a serious offence.
He says the new law will be in effect by “late 2023 or early 2024.”Really? I doubt the raping patriarchy will allow that. Stringing taxpayers along with promises that go nowhere, while stealing their money to reward rapists is The Patriarchy Way, which mirrors the oil, gas ‘n frac industry’s raping stealing way. Both are enabled by politicians, regulators and judges. I am stunned this OPP rapist was not let off by the judge and did not further delay delay delay to help Mr. Rapist steal more taxpayer money while Ontario’s health and education systems are destroyed by Doug Ford’s massive withholding of $billions of federal funds given.
Sentencing delayed for OPP officer convicted of sexual assault by Sabrina Bedford, April 14, 2023, The Recorder and TimesOf course it was.
A sentencing hearing for an Ontario Provincial Police officer convicted of sexual assault has been delayed by six weeks.
A lawyer for Jason Redmond, a Leeds County OPP officer found guilty of sexual assault for raping an unconscious woman and recording it on his phone, appeared in a Brockville courtroom Friday morning to request the matter be remanded until next month.WTF? To enable the OPP extending the rapist’s free pay another half a year? This is vile. The judge could have said no.
The hearing was originally on the docket for Friday, a timeslot typically reserved for the victim impact statement to be read aloud, but defense counsel Karin Stein appeared before the court via Zoom to make the request for a new date.
No reason was given for the delay. It was rescheduled for May 31.
In February, a judge in Brockville found Redmond guilty of sexual assault for raping an unconscious woman in 2017 and making a video of it on his phone to “prove” she had a drinking problem and to “teach her a lesson” about how irresponsible she was when consuming alcohol.
He pleaded not guilty, and during a two-day trial last summer, argued the victim’s inability to remember was not proof she did not consent.
The judge ultimately sided with the Crown, finding Redmond guilty of the charge in a Feb. 16 ruling.
Redmond, who started working with the OPP in the mid-2000s, committed the assault while on paid leave from the provincial police force.
He was charged in November 2015, and subsequently convicted in October 2018 for trafficking a controlled substance, and using a forged document in connection with Project Arrowtown – a major local case where police “conducted an 18-month investigation into criminal activity by police officers in Leeds County.”
He was not given jail time for his crimes, and has been suspended with pay since the charges were laid in 2015.
The OPP did not inform the public of the sexual assault charge, but Commissioner Thomas Carrique has since responded and claimed the agency has been trying to dismiss him from the force since he was first convicted in 2018.
This process has been met with a series of delays and appeals, he said, and the matter of his employment is still before an adjudicator.
The province’s solicitor general also said changes to policing laws governing paid leave are coming “as soon as possible.”Political lingo; translation = “never.”
Michael Kerzner said earlier this month he’s directed the deputy minister to complete discussions surrounding the details of the Community Safety and Policing Act, a new law to govern the conduct of police officers throughout the province.
The new law, among other changes, will allow a chief of police to suspend an officer without pay if the officer is charged with a serious offence.
It was passed in 2019 – two years before Redmond’s latest charge – but it has yet to be enacted.
Refer also to:
… Redmond is due back in court Apr. 14 for sentencing. … Delay delay delay, collecting ever more free pay to keep filling the pockets of his lawyer. Our “justice” industry is not about serving justice, it’s about keep our tax dollars flowing to lawyers. Just disgusting.