The majority of a disciplinary hearing for a suspended Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officer was closed to both media and members of the public Thursday due to the sensitive nature of medical information provided during testimony.
Const. Jarrott Forsyth — who is facing three counts of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act — attended the disciplinary hearing remotely for a brief period of time before deciding not to participate.
Forsyth is currently being held in Sudbury Jail after he was criminally charged in January for allegedly defying a probation order by contacting a woman he was once convicted of assaulting and threatening to kill.
The constable’s bail was subsequently denied in the Ontario Court of Justice during a scheduled court appearance on Feb. 6, court documents show. An order barring Forsyth from communicating with the woman was also issued during the same hearing.
The allegations have not been tested in court and Forsyth is considered innocent unless proven guilty.
In January 2024, Forsyth pleaded guilty to assaulting and threatening to kill the woman, admitting that he grabbed her neck during an argument on June 11, 2023. The death threats occurred between January 2020 and August 2023.
SooToday has chosen not to report on certain details of the case that could identify the victim.
Forsyth was handed a suspended sentence, which included 18 months probation and an order to provide a DNA sample.
As previously reported by SooToday, the Sault Police constable told Ontario Court Justice Andrew Buttazzoni during the sentencing hearing that the DNA order was the “biggest violation,” and “absolutely ridiculous given the facts of the case.”
Forsyth eventually complied with the court order.
A proposed three-year weapons prohibition was not imposed in the final sentencing. But court documents obtained by SooToday have since revealed that an application for a weapons ban was brought against Forsyth in July of last year.
Forsyth also made headlines in 2018 when he received a conditional discharge after being convicted of assaulting a colleague’s girlfriend. The assault occurred two years earlier during an off-duty confrontation.
Evidence from treatment providers for Forsyth was heard in-camera during Thursday's police disciplinary hearing and was not made available during the public portion of the proceedings. The hearing continues April 15.
- with files from Linda Richardson and Kenneth Armstrong