Winchester OPP officer faces additional charges

The entrance to the Cornwall, Ont. courthouse on Second Street West. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

CORNWALL – An SD&G OPP officer is scheduled to make a court appearance today (Thursday) on charges of breach of trust and obstructing an investigation.

Const. Scott Joseph was arrested in July 2020 after a four month investigation called Project Tadley.

Joseph, who lives in Ottawa, was initially charged with one count of breach of trust. But documents reviewed by Cornwall Newswatch show the officer is facing two additional charges since his initial arrest.

The charges are another count of breach of trust and obstruction of justice.

While the OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau hasn’t released details about the case, the charges shed some light on the nature of the alleged crime. All the acts are said to have occurred either in Winchester or at the Winchester OPP detachment.

The charge sheet shows the breach of trust relates to converting an OPP Occurrence Report “to a use not authorized…with intent to defraud.” The additional breach of trust alleges the officer provided a confidential report to someone from a secure database.

The obstruction of justice charge relates to “providing confidential information to subjects of a criminal investigation.”

Joseph has been suspended with pay since his July 2020 arrest under the rules of the Police Services Act.

Up until his suspension, Joseph had been with the force for three years.