A Toronto police officer has been charged this week with assaulting a woman seven years after winning an acquittal in a high-profile sexual assault trial.
Although Toronto police have not released any details about the alleged assault, the Dec. 21 press release said Const. Kara, 40, has been suspended with pay as per the Police Services Act.
A press release issued at the time indicated Toronto police responded to a call in the area of Dundas and Keele Street shortly after 5 a.m. An arrest at the scene resulted in Const. Kara being charged with assault. He was also suspended with pay in connection with the dispute.
Sexual Assault Case
In 2017, Const. Kara was acquitted in a high-profile sexual assault trial in which two fellow officers were also accused. Const. Kara, Const. Leslie Nyznik, and Const. Joshua Cabero, all officers at 51 Division at the time, were accused of sexually assaulting a female parking enforcement officer while she was too intoxicated to consent.
Defence attorneys for the accused said the woman was “fully conscious and capable at all times,” adding that she consented to all of the sexual contact that occurred, and “initiated much of it,” the documents say.
Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy acquitted the accused officers, saying the victim testimony presented in court was inconsistent with previous statements made to police.
Justice Molloy noted that security video footage showed the complainant walking normally into the hotel while talking with two of the accused officers.
The judge described the complainant’s evidence as “too fraught with problems to stand alone,” adding that she had “looked in vain for corroboration.”
“Based on the complainant’s evidence, I cannot be sure about what happened in that hotel room,” she wrote. “It is simply not safe to convict.”
