Ottawa police officer alleged to have sexually assaulted woman at Larga Baffin

The Larga Baffin medical patient home on Richmond Rd. in Ottawa. Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit alleges that an Ottawa police sergeant sexually assaulted a woman there. (FILE PHOTO)

Sgt. Aasim Ansari of the Ottawa Police Service is charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of breach of trust by a public officer in relation to an incident alleged to have occurred last fall at the Larga Baffin boarding home on Richmond Rd. in Ottawa.

Ontario’s third-party civilian investigation service, the Special Investigations Unit, announced its decision to lay charges on Friday, Sept. 28.

“The SIU was contacted by OPS [Ottawa Police Service] on Nov. 22, 2017 regarding a complaint of a sexual nature against the officer. The alleged assault reportedly occurred against a woman in Ottawa on October 25, 2017,” the SIU said.

The Ottawa Citizen reported that the incident that gave rise to the charges occurred at Larga Baffin, the well-known home-away-from-home for Inuit medical patients from the Qikiqtani region. Prior to the alleged incident, Ansari had responded to a 911 call from Larga Baffin.

The SIU is an arms-length civilian law enforcement agency in Ontario, independent of all other police forces, that investigates police incidents in which someone is killed, injured or sexually assaulted.

The allegations against Ansari have yet to be proven in court.

Ansari is to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice at 161 Elgin St. in Ottawa on Oct. 15, the SIU said.