Halifax police officer charged with sexual assault

Update, July 22, 2020: The Public Prosecution Service of Nova Scotia has stayed sexual assault charge against Cadieux and he has returned to work.

A Halifax police officer has been charged with sexual assaulting a fellow Halifax Regional Police employee somewhere in the municipality in mid-2016.

Const. Pierre Paul Cadieuxwas arrested by Halifax Regional Police Tuesday morning and was released in the afternoon with conditions.

Police say Cadieux was not a Halifax Regional Police employee at the time of the alleged incident, buthe was training at the Atlantic Police Academy to become an officer with the force.

Police said the alleged assault was not random, statingCadieux and his accuser knew one another.

Supt. Jim Perrinwouldn't reveal the gender of the complainant or whether she or he was an officer or not.

"Our employees' conduct is critical to building and maintaining the public's trust. Any instance of an HRP employee being charged is one too many. We take these matters very seriously," said Perrin.

"Obviously the public deserves to expect that their police officers will perform and act with the highest of integrity, and although we don't expect the public to judge us on isolated incidents, we also recognize that when a police officer is charged, it's troubling. It's troubling for the community, it's troubling for the organization."

Perrin said although the incident occurred in 2016, the complaint was not filed until May 25, 2018.

"The whole experience of sexual assault for the victims, it's complex. We recognize the victim's power to report it to the police when the time is right for them."

Cadieuxis scheduled to appear at Dartmouth provincial court July 31. He has been suspended with pay for a minimum of 60 days, at which point the police chief will decide whether to continue the payments, Perrin said.

Police saidCadieuxhas less than two years of service with Halifax Regional Police. He's also listed as station chief for Lake Echo's volunteer fire department.

Halifax police consulted withNova Scotia's police watchdog, the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), about the case, but since Cadieuxwas not an officer at the time of the alleged assault, it was deemed not to fit SIRT's mandate.

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