Charges against a once high-profile city hall employee and former police officer have been withdrawn.
Marcel Marcellin will, however, have to follow conditions of a peace bond in effect until the end of the year.
His lawyer, Joseph Markson, would not detail the conditions, but he stressed that entering into a peace bond is not an admission of criminal conduct.
“Often they’re applied as a means of resolving a matter that would otherwise be litigated. In this case, this matter would have proceeded to trial and been vigorously defended.”
Markson added that he believes the Crown made the right decision.
Marcellin was charged with two counts of assault last August, in connection with alleged incidents in 1995 and 1996.
When the charges were laid, he was taken off of the city’s UN Safe Cities project.
Marcellin joined London City Hall in January 2017, and served as Mayor Matt Brown‘s chief of staff from August to November of 2017 before he was named the director of organizational strategy and initiatives.
Before working at city hall, Marcellin ran unsuccessfully for the Ontario Liberals in 2014. He finished a distant third behind New Democrat Teresa Armstrong.
Marcellin worked for the London Police Service for 21 years from 1995 to 2016. The former sergeant was appointed as the diversity officer in 2009.
Marcellin taught a diversity course at Fanshawe College’s police foundations program from September 2009 until he started working at city hall.
He is not currently listed in the City of London’s staff directory.
— with files from 980 CFPL’s Devon Peacock.