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Former Ottawa rookie cop now facing three sex assault charges
He was first charged in May with sexual assault and forcible confinement involving an 18-year-old woman he met on Rideau Street.
GARY DIMMOCK Updated: December 16, 2019
Sharmarke Ali LINKEDIN PHOTO
Former Ottawa police Const. Sharmarke Ali is now facing three sexual assault charges dating back to 2013.
Ali, 33, was first charged in May with sexual assault and forcible confinement involving an 18-year-old woman he met on Rideau Street after the bars spilled out early April 13. Ali, who was a rookie cop at the time, was off-duty.
He was hired in August 2018 but has not been an employee of the Ottawa police since July 2019, Ottawa police said.
Ali also faces two additional sexual assault charges involving two women in Toronto. Ottawa police say Ali is accused of sexually assaulting the two women back in April 2013. The additional criminal charges against one of their own were yielded during an investigation into the 2019 case and have gone unreported until now.
None of the charges has been tested in court and he intends to fight them.
“Mr. Ali will be pleading not guilty. He is innocent and didn’t do anything wrong: not in 2013 and not in 2019. It is not our practice to litigate matters in the media. We will address these allegations fully and directly in a courtroom, where Mr. Ali looks forward to being vindicated,” defence lawyer Michael Spratt said.
According to Ali’s LinkedIn profile, he attended Algonquin College and was a district manager at OSL Retail Services, where he worked for five years, before joining city police. Previously, Ali was a sales manager at Koodo Mobile.
Ali isn’t the only Ottawa officer facing sex assault charges.
In November, Staff Sgt. Will Hinterberger was accused of breaching several bail conditions related to initial charges of sexual assault, forcible confinement, unauthorized possession of a firearm, distributing an intimate image without consent and breach of trust.
Police said the initial charges related to off-duty incidents between 2015 and 2018 and that the investigation was ongoing.
Hinterberger, who has a background in sensitive cases, has been suspended since Sept. 13 amid an internal investigation into missing police files.
He was first arrested in October by his own police service after a search warrant was executed at his house.
Hinterberger now faces nine additional charges of breaching the conditions of his release by allegedly violating several court orders.
The first breach listed in his charge sheet is alleged to have happened on Nov. 10, with additional alleged breaches continuing to Nov. 20. The additional charges were laid the following day.
Hinterberger was released on consent of the Crown after posting a $3,000 bond.
The details of his alleged breaches and any information shared his bail hearing are shielded by a publication ban.
Last year, Const. Eric Post was charged by his own force with 32 crimes against seven women, the most ever charges an Ottawa police officer has faced.
The criminal allegations against Post include two counts of sexual assault, pointing a firearm, multiple counts of criminal harassment and forcible confinement. He is alleged to have met several of the women on dating sites and to have peddled his position as a police office in doing so.
In October 2018, Post was granted bail under strict conditions. He was to be fitted with an ankle bracelet to electronically monitor his movements. He was placed under house arrest at his own home with his mother, who acted as his surety. The court also ordered that Post not be in the company of any women unless he is related to them or with his surety.
Just more than a week after Post was charged, Ottawa police Sgt. Aasim Ansari was charged with sex assault.
The allegations date back to Oct. 25, 2017. Ansari, a west division patrol officer, was on duty in the area of Larga Baffin on Richmond Road, a residence for people from the Baffin Region and Nunavut who are in Ottawa for medical treatment. While on duty Ansari allegedly sexually assaulted a woman.
None of the allegations in all three cases has been proven and all are still before the courts.
Correction: Ali has not been an employee of the Ottawa police since July 2019. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated he was currently suspended without pay. This story has been updated.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/loca...=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1576507569
He was first charged in May with sexual assault and forcible confinement involving an 18-year-old woman he met on Rideau Street.
GARY DIMMOCK Updated: December 16, 2019
Sharmarke Ali LINKEDIN PHOTO
Former Ottawa police Const. Sharmarke Ali is now facing three sexual assault charges dating back to 2013.
Ali, 33, was first charged in May with sexual assault and forcible confinement involving an 18-year-old woman he met on Rideau Street after the bars spilled out early April 13. Ali, who was a rookie cop at the time, was off-duty.
He was hired in August 2018 but has not been an employee of the Ottawa police since July 2019, Ottawa police said.
Ali also faces two additional sexual assault charges involving two women in Toronto. Ottawa police say Ali is accused of sexually assaulting the two women back in April 2013. The additional criminal charges against one of their own were yielded during an investigation into the 2019 case and have gone unreported until now.
None of the charges has been tested in court and he intends to fight them.
“Mr. Ali will be pleading not guilty. He is innocent and didn’t do anything wrong: not in 2013 and not in 2019. It is not our practice to litigate matters in the media. We will address these allegations fully and directly in a courtroom, where Mr. Ali looks forward to being vindicated,” defence lawyer Michael Spratt said.
According to Ali’s LinkedIn profile, he attended Algonquin College and was a district manager at OSL Retail Services, where he worked for five years, before joining city police. Previously, Ali was a sales manager at Koodo Mobile.
Ali isn’t the only Ottawa officer facing sex assault charges.
In November, Staff Sgt. Will Hinterberger was accused of breaching several bail conditions related to initial charges of sexual assault, forcible confinement, unauthorized possession of a firearm, distributing an intimate image without consent and breach of trust.
Police said the initial charges related to off-duty incidents between 2015 and 2018 and that the investigation was ongoing.
Hinterberger, who has a background in sensitive cases, has been suspended since Sept. 13 amid an internal investigation into missing police files.
He was first arrested in October by his own police service after a search warrant was executed at his house.
Hinterberger now faces nine additional charges of breaching the conditions of his release by allegedly violating several court orders.
The first breach listed in his charge sheet is alleged to have happened on Nov. 10, with additional alleged breaches continuing to Nov. 20. The additional charges were laid the following day.
Hinterberger was released on consent of the Crown after posting a $3,000 bond.
The details of his alleged breaches and any information shared his bail hearing are shielded by a publication ban.
Last year, Const. Eric Post was charged by his own force with 32 crimes against seven women, the most ever charges an Ottawa police officer has faced.
The criminal allegations against Post include two counts of sexual assault, pointing a firearm, multiple counts of criminal harassment and forcible confinement. He is alleged to have met several of the women on dating sites and to have peddled his position as a police office in doing so.
In October 2018, Post was granted bail under strict conditions. He was to be fitted with an ankle bracelet to electronically monitor his movements. He was placed under house arrest at his own home with his mother, who acted as his surety. The court also ordered that Post not be in the company of any women unless he is related to them or with his surety.
Just more than a week after Post was charged, Ottawa police Sgt. Aasim Ansari was charged with sex assault.
The allegations date back to Oct. 25, 2017. Ansari, a west division patrol officer, was on duty in the area of Larga Baffin on Richmond Road, a residence for people from the Baffin Region and Nunavut who are in Ottawa for medical treatment. While on duty Ansari allegedly sexually assaulted a woman.
None of the allegations in all three cases has been proven and all are still before the courts.
Correction: Ali has not been an employee of the Ottawa police since July 2019. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated he was currently suspended without pay. This story has been updated.
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/loca...=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1576507569
