Kingston officer pleads guilty to criminal harassment

A Kingston police officer will soon return to duty after pleading guilty to criminal harassment in a Brockville courtroom.

Dan Mastin, an inspector with the Kingston Police Service, was charged by the Ontario Provincial Police in Leeds County with criminal harassment on Dec. 2, 2021, after they received complaints from a woman about “unwanted communication.”

The inspector, who lives in the Gananoque area, pleaded guilty to the charge on Thursday, a courthouse employee confirmed.

He received 18 months' probation.

Kingston Police Chief Scott Fraser confirmed Friday that Mastin would soon return to the job after being suspended a year-and-a-half ago.

“Inspector Mastin remains employed with the Kingston Police, and, as per the Police Services Act, has been suspended with pay since initially charged,” Chief Scott Fraser said in an email.

“He will be returning from suspension as of Monday, June 5, 2023, and placed on administrative duties.”

The investigation dates back to late November 2021, when the OPP'S crime unit in Leeds County began looking into allegations from a woman receiving unwanted communication, police said at the time.

Few details were released, but the OPP charged Mastin in December of that year under section 372(3) of the Criminal Code with harassing communication.

Soon after being charged, he was released from custody. He had his first appearance at the Ontario Court of Justice in Brockville on Dec. 17, 2021.

Mastin has been an officer with Kingston Police for his more than 33-year career.