London cop accused of hiring sex worker, insulting officers on social media

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A veteran London cop is accused of hiring a sex-trade worker, insulting his fellow officers on social media and flashing his badge while trying to get a loan.

Const. Juan Romero, 47, faces seven counts of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act – the now-replaced law governing policing in Ontario under which forces hold disciplinary hearings into professional misconduct – for alleged offences between Nov. 14 and Feb. 26.

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The 20-year officer is alleged to have used “profane, abusive or insulting language” in social media posts referring to a sergeant and a fellow constable on Nov. 14, according to a notice of hearing for the case.

Romero is further alleged to have phoned the sergeant, whose name wasn’t revealed, three days later “in an attempt to intimidate or cause fear,” the three-page document says.

He is alleged to have hired a sex-trade worker on Dec. 9 and refused to allow police officers responding to a 911 call to enter the room, the document says.

Four days later, Romero is alleged to have engaged in “disruptive and assaultive” behaviour toward a hotel employee while trying to rent a room at the Travelodge on Dundas Street.

Romero is alleged to have identified himself as a police officer by showing his wallet badge while trying to secure a loan from the Money Mart on Dundas Street, made racist remarks toward a worker and threatened to “bang” their head off the counter, the document says.

Romero is accused of sending an email to a Free Press reporter in a “threatening, derogatory or profane manner” on Dec. 9, the document states. (For full transparency, I am the reporter who received the email.)

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The email was sent nearly a month after reporting in the newspaper and on lfpress.com about criminal charges against Romero. The Free Press forwarded the email to the London police professional standards branch.

Romero was arrested on Dec. 12 and charged with two counts of assault, assault with a weapon, resisting arrest and obstructing police.

Court records show was released on an undertaking – a document created by either a court or police that places the charged person under certain conditions – before he was arrested 11 days later and charged with failing to comply with an undertaking that prohibited him from going near a northeast London home, except accompanied by police to retrieve his belongings.

Romero is alleged to have assaulted a man and woman, both with the same last name, on Dec. 12, and further assaulted the man with a blunt object, court documents say.

Romero spent nearly a week in custody at the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre after police arrested him on May 7 and charged him with criminal harassment and failing to comply with a release order.

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He was granted bail after pledging $1,000 and his surety promised to pay $1,500 if he broke any of his bail conditions. Under those conditions, Romero was ordered to enroll in a bail supervision program run by the John Howard Society, live at an address approved by the agency, not communicate or go near several people and not possess any weapons. Romero returns to court on Sept. 25.

The professional misconduct charges against Romero were first revealed during the opening day of the tribunal overseen by Greg Walton, a retired OPP superintendent. The case resumes on Sept. 6.

Romero remains suspended with pay, a London police spokesperson said Tuesday.

Under the Police Services Act, the law governing policing that was replaced in April by the Community Safety and Policing Act, police chiefs only could withhold pay from suspended officers convicted of a crime and sentenced to jail. But chiefs now have authority to suspend officers without pay if they’re in custody, under bail conditions that would interfere with their job or are charged with a serious off-duty offence.

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

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