Previously ordered to quit or be fired, a disgraced Guelph police officer is once again fighting to keep his badge and build his pension.
A new sentencing hearing for Const. Corey McArthur, who assaulted a teenager handcuffed to a hospital bed in 2016, got underway on Wednesday.
He was ordered to quit or be fired following a lengthy sentencing hearing for professional misconduct under the Police Services Act that wrapped up in 2022, but that decision was overturned by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission last fall and a new hearing ordered.
In the eyes of Guelph Police Service, the “only appropriate outcome is dismissal,” lawyer Jessica Barrow told hearing officer ret. OPP supt. Morris Elbers, reiterating the service’s stand from the previous sentencing hearing.
McArthur’s defence team, however, seeks his return to frontline duties.
At the onset of Wednesday’s hearing, McArthur confirmed his previous guilty plea to professional misconduct under the Police Services Act for the 2016 assault and video of the assault captured by a Guelph General Hospital security camera was shown.
He pleaded guilty in 2020 to criminal assault in the matter, receiving a conditional discharge that included three years of probation and an order to perform 240 hours of community service.
The biggest issue to be addressed through the hearing is the extent to which McArthur’s diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) should be considered a mitigating factor to his sentence. The diagnosis itself is not in question.
The first person to testify Wednesday, on behalf of McArthur, was Dr. Jonathan Rootenberg, an expert in forensic psychology. He met with McArthur 10 times since 2018.
“He seems to have made remarkable progress,” Rootenberg said of the officer, whom he’s seen three times this year alone. “He’s been diligent in tending to his care.”
During the previous sentencing hearing, he suggested McArthur could return to frontline policing duties in a graduated way, with limited hours at first, monitoring of his actions and continued therapy for PTSD.
Asked by defence attorney Joseph Markson whether he continues to have that opinion, Rootenberg responded, “I don’t have any concerns psychologically … given the (recovery) work he’s done.”
McArthur has been receiving therapy since shortly after the hospital assault and was formally diagnosed with PTSD in 2018, though Rootenberg said there was evidence existing since at least 2013.
That’s the year McArthur’s partner, Const. Jennifer Kovach, crashed her police vehicle into a city bus and died. At the time, she was responding to a call for assistance from McArthur.
Following that, Rootenberg said McArthur showed many symptoms of PTSD including nightmares, anxiety, negative mood changes, angry outbursts, hyper vigilance regarding safety and more.
Though McArthur continues to experience most of them, they are significantly less severe as a result of the officer’s dedication to receiving treatment, the forensic psychiatrist said.
“He has a very stellar record of taking PTSD therapy. … The acuity of his PTSD has markedly lessened,” Rootenberg remarked. “I haven’t seen any evidence of waning of his willingness (to receive treatment).”
McArthur has been on paid leave since shortly after the 2016 hospital attack and regularly appears on the annual Sunshine List – a list of tax-payer funded employees paid more than $100,000 annually.
Employment lawyer Ian Johnstone of Johnstone & Cowling LLP, a former Peel police officer, previously told GuelphToday that ordered leave time counts toward pension qualification requirements.
“It makes no difference whether they retire, resign or (are) terminated,” he said generally of police officer pensions, which can be collected beginning at age 50. “They still are entitled to their pension because they’ve paid into it.”
Based on his stated age at the time of the hospital attack, McArthur is 47 years old.
The officer has twice been criminally convicted of assault while on duty.
He received an absolute discharge, including three years of probation, for attacking a man in Downtown Guelph following an arrest in 2008 and received a conditional discharge for the 2016 assault at GGH.
He was docked 10 days pay under the Police Services Act for the 2008 incident and pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct under the act in 2020 regarding the hospital incident.
McArthur also faced a private citizen’s charge of assault causing bodily harm in 2012 that was later dropped.
The sentencing hearing is slated to continue on Thursday and throughout next week, followed by periodic days in September and October, if needed.
