Don Meredith is seen in his Toronto lawyer's office in downtown Toronto on Thursday, March 16, 2017. A former senator who resigned from the upper house over a sexual relationship with a teenager is facing criminal charges. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel
Republished October 01, 2022 - 3:52 PM
Original Publication Date October 01, 2022 - 7:31 AM
OTTAWA - A former senator who resigned from the upper chamber amid a sexual misconduct scandal is now facing criminal charges.
Don Meredith, 58, has been charged with three counts of sexual assault and one count of criminal harassment, Ottawa police said Saturday.
A source confirmed to The Canadian Press that the man in question was the former Conservative senator.
The charges relate to incidents that allegedly took place in 2013 and 2014 and were reported by an adult woman, police said, offering no other details.
Meredith has been released on a promise to appear in court.
A lawyer who represented him in the past did not immediately respond to request for comment on the charges. Alison Korn, a spokeswoman for the Senate's Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, declined to comment on the matter as it is now before the courts.
Meredith — an ordained minister — was appointed to the senate on the advice of former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2010, but resigned in 2017 after a scathing report from the Senate's ethics officer.
The report from Lyse Ricard, who held the position at the time, concluded Meredith had violated the chamber's code of ethics by engaging in a relationship with a girl when she was just 16 and recommended the upper house take the unprecedented step of expelling him.
Meredith resigned from the Senate weeks later just as the upper chamber was believed ready to expel him over the relationship. He also acknowledged the sexual relations outlined in the report but said nothing took place until she turned 18.
A second Senate investigation, released in 2019, found Meredith had repeatedly bullied, threatened and intimidated his staff, as well as touched, kissed and propositioned some of them.
Saturday's announcement marks the first time Meredith has faced criminal charges related to sexual misconduct.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2022.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2022