Former senator Don Meredith charged with 3 counts of sexual assault

Former Canadian senator Don Meredith has been charged by Ottawa police withthree counts of sexual assault and one count of criminal harassment.

The Ottawa police sexual assault and child abuse section charged Meredith on Saturday after an investigation into allegations of sexual assaultreported by awoman, who police saywas an adult at the time, dating back to 2013 and 2014.

Police said in a statement that Meredith was charged and released Saturday on a promise to appear in court. Police toldCBCNews that adefendant would have tobe in Ottawa to be released under those conditions.

CBC has reached out to Meredith for comment but has not yet received a response.

Meredith, a Pentecostal minister, was appointed to the Senate by former prime minister Stephen Harper. He servedfrom December 2010 to his resignationinMay 2017.

The departurecame after the Senate'sethics committee recommended Meredithbe expelled from the Red Chamber dueto his relationship with a teenage girl. Meredith is eligible to collect his parliamentary pension because he resigned before facing an expulsion vote, Treasury Board officials confirmed at the time.

In 2020, theSenate paid $498,000 in compensationto nine of Meredith'sformer employees, who say they suffered harassment, including sexual harassment, on the job.