A Chatham-Kent police officer who pleaded guilty to sexual assault in a Chatham Court last year has now pleaded guilty to seven counts of discreditable conduct.
Constable Andrew Jaconelli, who is currently suspended from duty with pay, entered the guilty pleas during a Police Services Act hearing via teleconference, Tuesday morning.
The bulk of the charges stemmed from off-duty incidents that date back to November 2017 and December 2018.
Three counts of discreditable conduct against Jaconelli that he pleaded guilty to stemmed from the officer sexually assaulting a coworker at a party in November 2017. The court was told that Jaconelli approached a woman from behind at that party while he was intoxicated and intentionally grabbed her buttock.
Jaconelli was later charged in December 2018 with one count of sexual assault and one count of assault with a weapon in connection with the incident. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault in connection with the case in November 2020 and received a conditional discharge, but the assault with a weapon charge was dropped in court.
During Tuesday's Police Services Act hearing, Jaconelli also pleaded guilty to two counts of discreditable conduct that police said stemmed from an off-duty incident where the officer intentionally threw and spiked a coworker with a dart during a party in 2017. Police said one other count of discreditable conduct stemmed from the officer pointing a dart at another coworker's neck the same night.
In total, Jaconelli has been charged with nine counts of discreditable conduct.
Although Jaconelli pleaded guilty in Tuesday's Police Services Act Hearing, the hearing is not complete and the Hearing Officer has not made a decision relating to the penalty, so Jaconelli will continue to be suspended with pay.
The hearing will resume Wednesday for the other two counts.
