Disgraced former senator Don Meredith charged with sexual assault
Don Meredith, a former senator who resigned in disgrace over a sexual affair with a teenager, has been charged by Ottawa police with three counts of sexual assault and criminal harassment.
The charges related to alleged incidents in 2013 and 2014 and were reported to authorities by an adult woman, according to a news release issued by the Ottawa Police Service.
Police are concerned there may be more alleged victims," the release says.
Meredith, 58, was charged Saturday and released on a promise to appear in court.
The former senator was appointed by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2010.
In 2015, a Star investigation revealed Meredith had been having a sexual relationship with a teenager while in office; he was soon ousted from the Conservative caucus. The Star's Kevin Donovan later revealed the senator's sexual liaisons had taken place in his office and publicly paid-for hotel rooms.
Meredith resigned in 2017 after an ethics committee investigation found that he had used his post to lure" a teenage girl into a sexual relationship and recommended his expulsion from the Senate.
The teenager was between 16 and 18 at the time of her relationship with Meredith. A police probe into the affair concluded with no charges laid. (In Canada, the age of consent is 16 but goes up to 18 when there is a relationship of authority, trust or dependency.)
Meredith's tenure in the Senate was also mired in complaints of bullying and harassment.
A separate ethics committee report in 2019 detailed a variety of allegations by employees - from unwanted touching, kissing and propositions to frequent yelling and belittling of staff members.
The Senate has since paid a compensation package of almost half a million dollars to a group of nine former employees.
Meredith, who was married at the time of his affair and served as a volunteer pastor in Toronto, has previously said that racism played a role in the past allegations against him.
Absolutely, racism has played a role in this," Meredith told The Canadian Press. This is nothing new to me. There is always a double standard that exists in this country."
At the time, he apologized to his wife and children for his moral failing."
The Star has not yet been able to reach Meredith for comment on the charges laid Saturday.
A phone number for GTA Faith Alliance Learning Centre, the non-profit formerly led by Meredith, is no longer in service.
Sara Mojtehedzadeh is a Toronto-based reporter covering work and wealth on the Star's investigations team. Follow her on Twitter: @saramojtehedz