Ex-cop gets conditional discharge after pleading guilty to harassing communication

An ex-Chatham-Kent police officer who pleaded guilty to a harassing communication may have done a lot to earn a conditional discharge — his second in three years — but shouldn’t “expect another break” if he ends up back in court, a judge said.

Andrew Jaconelli, 50, who quit the force this year after pleading guilty to seven counts of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act, pleaded not guilty to criminal harassment, but guilty to the lesser charge of harassing communication in a Chatham court Wednesday.

Justice Scott Pratt accepted a joint Crown and defense submission calling for a conditional discharge and six months of probation.

Court heard the offense took place in fall 2021, when the strain of Jaconelli’s suspension from the force affected his relationship with a woman.

Jaconelli was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder after a horrific on-duty incident in which he saw a man set himself on fire. This contributed to alcohol and mental health issues, including a suicide attempt, court heard.

After Jaconelli tried repeatedly over several days to contact the complainant, Chatham-Kent police asked London police to charge him with criminal harassment on Nov. 11, 2021, court heard.

Jaconelli’s lawyer, Lucas O’Hara, told court his client had received a conditional discharge for sexual assault in 2020, meaning he has no criminal record.

A residential program Jaconelli recently completed for his PTSD and alcohol addiction “was instrumental in allowing him to develop certain skills and tools to cope with his symptoms that he had never gained properly before,” O’Hara said. Jaconelli continues to see a psychiatrist and receive alcohol counselling.

Jaconelli’s guilty plea shows his remorse, the lawyer said, and the deterrence factor includes the “disgrace and humiliation” of extensive media reports about Jaconelli’s issues while a police officer.

Invited to address the court, Jaconelli’s voice choked with emotion as he apologized to the complainant “for all the pain and suffering my actions have caused her.”

Jaconelli added he is “embracing the benefits of counseling and rehabilitation” to be a better parent and father figure.

Referring to Jaconelli’s suicide attempt, the judge said, “I’m glad you failed, because despite all of the problems that you’ve encountered, the struggles that you’ve had, there’s people that need you in their lives, people want you in the world.”

Jaconelli may have fallen quite a ways, but seems to have climbed back up a fair distance, Pratt said.

“But for your work in rehabilitating yourself, this wouldn’t the sentence I would be imposing,” the judge said in granting the conditional discharge and probation.

“You’re getting a break today,” Pratt said, noting it’s unusual for someone to receive two conditional discharges.

“That said, if there is a next time, you shouldn’t expect another break.”