Waterloo police officer charged with sexual assault

Charge stems from allegations at police college

The Special Investigations Unit has charged a Waterloo police officer with sexual assault.

The charge stems from allegations made against the officer while he and the complainant were at the Ontario Police College last April, according to a press release from the SIU.

The police watchdog declined to provide further detail.

“The matter is now properly before the courts. In consideration of the fair trial interests of the accused, the SIU will make no further comment,” read the statement, released Wednesday.

Brent Ross, a spokesman for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, which oversees the police college in Aylmer, Ont., declined to comment.

Waterloo police placed the officer on administrative leave on April 15 of this year after a civilian came forward to register a complaint with the force.

After an internal investigation, Waterloo police handed the case over to the SIU.

The SIU is called in to investigate death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault involving police.

Det. Const. Zachary Gent of the Waterloo Regional Police Service is facing one count of sexual assault.

He is set to appear in court in St. Thomas, Ont., on July 26.

Gent, a 10-year veteran of the Waterloo police, was commended in May 2012 for preventing a man from jumping off an expressway bridge.

Waterloo police spokeswoman Alana Russell could not say why Gent was attending the college, only to say officers attend “fairly regularly” for training. She declined to comment further on the matter, referring inquiries to the SIU.