Ottawa police superintendent charged with sexual assault, breach of trust

An Ottawa police superintendent has been criminally charged with allegedly grooming and sexually assaulting a woman who he recruited to be a police officer while they had a sexual relationship, CBC News has learned.

In an email sent to all Ottawa police officers Thursday afternoon and obtained by CBC News, Chief Eric Stubbs announced the charges against Supt. Mark Patterson.

Patterson, 54, is charged with one count each of sexual assault, sexual assault while in a position of trust, power or authority, and breach of trust.

The charges stem from incidents that Ontario Provincial Police allege occurred between December 2018 and May 2022, involving a female Ottawa police officer who was recruited to the force.

None of the allegations has been proven in court. Patterson has been released from custody on an undertaking to appear in court, police said.

Allegations serious and concerning, chief says

"I know this information is very concerning to all of us and the community we serve," Stubbs told officers.

Patterson was "immediately suspended" when the allegations were made to police, he added.

"Our service takes all allegations of sexual assault and harassment very seriously. We have no tolerance of either. It is damaging and debilitating to all those impacted," Stubbs said, without releasing any details of the allegations.

"The allegations and charges in this case are very serious and it is important that we respect the judicial process and for all the facts to be heard."

Superintendent was previously in charge of recruiting

Patterson was suspended in June. He has been a police officer for 25 years and was hired in 1997.

At the time of his suspension, Patterson was superintendent of the intelligence directorate and oversaw units such as intelligence and surveillance. He has previously been a public-facing senior officer in charge of recruiting new cops to the service.

CBC News has learned the allegations are related to his time in recruiting, and specifically a sexual relationship Patterson is alleged to have had with a woman he recruited to be a police officer after meeting her through a local gym.

That gym was the scene of a January 2019 Ottawa police "jobposal," where police formally offer a new recruit a job.

In that video, posted to social media, Patterson shows up in uniform to the gym to offer a recruit a job.

"She said YES!" an Ottawa police Twitter account wrote.

Patterson's personal Instagram account, which was made private after his suspension, shows he posted congratulatory messages with the pictures of at least five female police recruits coming from the gym to the police service.

The gym also hosted Patterson on a podcast, in which he talked about policing and recruiting. The episode of the gym's podcast — "The NCR Podcast" — is called "Mark Patterson, Guns, Gangs and CrossFit."

The hosts call him a "cool dude" who they want to get to know.

Patterson tells them he's "passionate about recruiting people that I think would be good police officers, that have a desire, have the skillsets to do it. Being involved in the crossfit community, I see people who are team-oriented, and you have to be team-oriented to be a police officer, that's how the organization works."

But Patterson also cautions potential applicants: "You don't get hired overnight." His advice to them was to apply to many police services, be patient and persevere.

"It's not an easy process either," he says about the police hiring competition.

The police service is looking for people with varied life experience, volunteer work, who are in good shape, and mentally sound, he says.

They're "very big on people being involved in the community."

Patterson tells them how when he was a child, his mother was jailed and he lived in foster care for two years. He explains how he "hit the gym" in university and gained 100 pounds after being locked in a locker his first year of high school.

He started going to the gym in 2017, he said.

"I'm a very competitive person."

He also tells the hosts that, as a then-50-year-old man, he liked "to mingle with the younger folks" at the gym.

At one point during the 48-minute episode he asks what the average age at the gym is. The hosts say 35 and he's surprised thinking it would be 23 to 25.

Using himself as an example, the officer says: "Life is about decision-making."

"It's easy for you to deviate to one side or the other and blame others for it. Given my background and what happened to me in my life, it's easy to go the other way."

Patterson key figure in Freedom Convoy response

The month-long Public Order Emergency Commission, which looked at the federal use of the Emergencies Act, heard testimony that Patterson was at the centre of cancelled convoy raids, oversaw early lapses in local intelligence, and levied an allegation of collusion against his deputy chief. But Patterson did not testify himself.

On Oct. 31, inquiry lawyer Frank Au said he was satisfied that they didn't need to call Patterson as a witness after a request to accommodate his "medical" needs.

Patterson served as one of the three major event commanders for Ottawa police that shuffled through the role during the occupation. He only did so for four days between Feb. 6 and 10, but those four days saw him ultimately cancel two enforcement operations and accuse his female deputy chief of colluding with her husband to undermine him.

Patterson was removed as event commander shortly thereafter.

He remains suspended from the service with pay.