A Toronto police officer acquitted in 2017 of sexually assaulting a female parking attendant after a night of heavy drinking has been charged with assault.
Toronto police said an officer was arrested and charged with assault on Wednesday.
The officer is accused of assaulting a woman he was involved in a dispute with, a police news release said.
Forty-year-old Const. Sameer Kara was charged with one count of assault and suspended with pay, according to police.
Kara was one of three officers acquitted in 2017 over a 2015 sexual assault case involving a female parking attendant.
Three officers, including Kara, were found not guilty of sexually assaulting the woman after a night of heavy drinking.
In 2017, Justice Anne Molloy told a Toronto court she “looked in vain for corroboration” of the woman’s version of events but couldn’t find any evidence to support her account.
Leslie Nyznik, Joshua Cabero and Kara had pleaded not guilty to a charge each of sexual assault.
Five years later, in 2022, Kara was also suspended after he was charged with assault following a dispute with a woman.
In a 2022 media release, Toronto police said an assault was reported in the area of Dundas Street West and Keele Street.
At the time, police alleged Kara had hit a woman, though “no one was taken to hospital.”
Toronto police said the 2022 charge did not result in a conviction and Kara resumed “his normal work duties.”
— with files from The Canadian Press