Guelph, Ont. officer who assaulted teen in hospital bed must resign, disciplinary hearing finds

A Guelph police officer who pleaded guilty to assaulting a teen while on the job has seven days to resign from his position or he will be fired.

The decision in the Police Service Act case against Const. Corey McArthur was delivered on Wednesday.

The ruling comes more than six years after the assault, which happened at Guelph General Hospital in 2016. McArthur has been suspended with pay since.

Video of the incident shows McArthur striking a 17-year-old who was restrained to a hospital bed. The teen kneed McArthur before the officer delivered the blow with his elbow.

During the criminal trial, McArthur’s lawyer said that his client suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the on-duty death of his colleague, Const. Jennifer Kovach in 2013. Kovach died after her police cruiser crashed with a Guelph Transit bus.

McArthur has been with the Guelph police since 2001.

He was also found guilty of assault while on the job in 2010 after he arrested a person for public intoxication. He was also involved in police services hearing for that incident, where he pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct and was reprimanded to work 80 hours of additional shifts.

McArthur has been suspended with pay since 2016, making over $100,000 per year most years according to the Ontario Sunshine List.

The salary data for McArthur shows while he has been suspended, his yearly pay has increased from $101,804 in 2016 to $110,689 in 2021.

Wednesday's ruling means that will likely soon be coming to an end. He now has seven days to resign or be dismissed.