Senior officer at Saint-Jean Garrison charged with sexual assault

A division commander at the Canadian Armed Forces training school inSaint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., has been charged with sexual assault.

Thecharge against Maj. Timothy Abbott, an instructor at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School, also known as the Saint-Jean Garrison, was filed Wednesday in connection with an incident that took place at the school last September.

He was also charged with drunkenness and prejudice to good order and discipline in relation to another incident that occurred last spring.

"Investigators became aware of the earlier harassment incident during the course of the sexual assault investigation," said Lt. (Navy) Blake Patterson.

Abbott was moved to administrative duties when the first allegations against him weremade, and he will remain there until his case is heard by the military justice system, saidAndrDurand, a spokesperson for the school.

Abbott joined the Armed Forces in 2003, and he has worked at the school since 2016.

In his role as division commander, he was responsible for all the trainers at the school,which is where new recruits undergo basic training.

Abbott is the fourth Canadian Forces member affiliated with the school to be charged with sexual assault in the past year.

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In April 2017, a private was charged with four counts of sexual assault in connection with incidents that involved other students undergoing basic training in March 2016 at the garrison.

Last August, an aviator at the school was charged with four counts of sexual assault and two counts of assault in connection with an incident at the training camp in the fall of 2016.

In October, a staff member was charged with sexual assault, drunkenness and prejudice to good order and discipline, in connection with a December 2016incident involving a studentat a restaurant in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

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In February 2018, a warrant officer based in Petawawa, Ont., was charged with sexual assault in connection with a 2016incidentat another Canadian Forces institutionin Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the Royal Military College Saint-Jean.

The Saint-Jean Garrison is the site of a 12-week basic training course that non-commissioned members of the Forces must undergo shortly after they enlist. It also offers an officer training program.