Cop accused of offensive remarks at crime scene

For the second time, a longtime cop is in hot water for comments he allegedly uttered on the job — this time for what Toronto police say were discriminatory and sexual remarks at a homicide scene that were caught on camera.

Det. Christopher Hominuk appeared before the disciplinary tribunal this week on two counts of discreditable conduct for allegedly making “inappropriate sexual comments” and remarks about race or ethnic origin, according to documents outlining the allegations.

“Your comments could reasonably be construed as offensive based on the protected grounds set out by the Ontario Human Rights Code and Service Policy,” according to police documents, which did not detail exactly what Hominuk is alleged to have said.

Hominuk did not enter a plea and his lawyer, Gary Clewley, declined to comment. The allegations have not been tested at the tribunal.

Hominuk, an officer assigned to 23 Division in Etobicoke, is alleged to have made the comments last July, at the scene of the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Jovahn McKnollys at Westown Plaza.

Hominuk was among the officers who began a preliminary investigation before homicide investigators arrived on scene. The officer’s alleged comments were later discovered by a colleague who was going through body camera footage in preparation for court disclosure.

“While reviewing the footage, you were heard making inappropriate comments based on ancestry and or, colour and or race and or, citizenship and or ethnic origin and or place of origin which constitutes misconduct,” according to the police document, which separately alleges Hominuk made inappropriate sexual comments at the scene.

In 2011, he was convicted of threatening bodily harm but granted a conditional discharge after he was caught on camera threatening to Taser handcuffed burglary suspects in the genitals while they were in the back of a police cruiser in May 2010. Hominuk later pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct at a police disciplinary tribunal, where he kept his job but was demoted in rank for a year.