Officer facing sex assault charge

KITCHENER — A Waterloo Regional Police officer faces a charge of sexual assault in connection with an incident involving a woman at an Oktoberfest festhall in 2017.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit announced Wednesday that Const. Eric Schnarr has been charged with sexual assault.

The local police service forwarded the sexual assault complaint to the SIU on Oct. 16, 2017.

The alleged assault occurred Oct. 14 against a woman at the Concordia Club on Ottawa Street in Kitchener.

The officer was off duty at the time.

Schnarr, who has worked as a local officer for six years, is set to appear in court on March 28.

The SIU said it will not be releasing any more details about the incident now that a charge has been laid.

Waterloo Regional Police suspended the officer with pay in October 2017, said Insp. Mike Haffner.

Since January, the SIU has launched investigations into four separate allegations of sexual assault involving local police.

Two of the incidents occurred more than 20 years ago — one in the early 1990s and the other in October 1994.

The other allegations involve incidents that occurred in September 2017 and November 2017.