OPP officer who saw jailhouse assault video comes forward, pushes for change
An Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer is coming forward to share how he stumbled across a video of a troubling jailhouse assault, setting into motion a chain of events that would eventually result in a conviction but would also prove devastating to his mental health.
Const. Charles Ostrom told CTV News he was accidentally exposed to the video of Const. Bailey Nicholls assaulting a woman in cells at OPP's Orillia detachment, after finding a report attached to the case wasn't accurate.
"It was as far from what I had read in the report as imaginable. I thought, 'I'm seeing a crime. I'm witnessing a crime.' Albeit four months later, but I'm witnessing a crime," Ostrom said in an interview.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Ostrom had already been off work in 2013 when he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with two suicide attempts in three weeks. He returned to work 14 months later on reduced duties, allowing him to stay away from anything traumatic.
If the report attached to the video had indicated the assault it contained, Ostrom said he would have avoided it. Instead, it sparked his PTSD and pushed him to report it, passing information to a retired officer that would make its way to the OPP Commissioner and the province's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), he said.
The video would prove crucial to the conviction of Nicholls for assault causing bodily harm. Nicholls was given a suspended sentence on Thursday by Justice John Olver.
In the video, Nicholls can be seen getting increasingly frustrated with a woman who had been arrested at an Orillia bar. She breaks her necklace, grabs her throat, and pushes her head into the cell bars. The woman can be seen bleeding from the head – an injury that required five staples to close.
Olver found Nichols provided misleading and conflicting accounts of the incident and failed to document it properly. She was placed on 15 months' probation. The Ontario Provincial Police Association has said it plans to appeal the verdict.
Ostrom said he is still off work but believes the sentence is a crucial step in his return. He said he had seen other assaults on the job that weren't dealt with properly and is calling for change.
"I wasn't able to begin to heal until there was the appropriate accountability," he said.
The number of mental stress injury claims at the OPP has risen from 50 in 2015 to a high of 180 in 2019 and has dropped back to 152 in 2023 – still some three times as many, WSIB statistics show.
The amount of benefit payments across all types of injuries shows a rise from about $6.4 million in 2013 to $20 million in 2023, according to the WSIB statistics.
Former OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis said the force is much more open to mental health claims than it has been, and more people are taking advantage of them.
"Does this mean they are forgetting about the stigma and are bravely putting their hands up and trying to seek help in bigger numbers? Or does this mean that there are more numbers overall to put their hands up?" Lewis said.
The OPP said it has worked to destigmatize mental health in the last few years and is trying to promote a culture that focuses on the well-being of its members.
Ostrom wants the OPP to take mental health concerns more seriously and listen to officers' concerns.
"I would like to see it stop. I would like to see every member of the OPP be able to hold their head high and have the dignity that they are entitled to have as a human being," he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Hackers release corporate data stolen from London Drugs
Retailer London Drugs says cybercriminals who stole files from its corporate head office last month have released some of the data after it refused to pay a ransom.
Toronto man falls off his chair after seeing $70M Lotto Max win in his bank account
A Toronto man who won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw literally fell off his chair when he saw the funds in his bank account.
Montreal-area high school students protest 'sexist' dress code
Approximately 50 Montreal-area students — the vast majority of them female — were suspended Wednesday after their school deemed the shorts they were wearing were too short. On Thursday, several students staged a walk-out to protest what they believe is a "sexist" dress code that unfairly targets girls.
Oilers' Henrique, Stars' Hintz out for Game 1 of West final
Top-line Dallas Stars centre Roope Hintz will still be out of the lineup for the Western Conference Final opener Thursday night against Edmonton, which is still without forward Adam Henrique.
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished. It used to be the sort of place where parents let their kids roam free or play in the local creek, but everything has changed.
What is 'slapped cheek disease' and should parents be concerned?
Despite its rough name, experts say most cases of 'slapped cheek disease' are mild and not a cause for concern.
American Airlines retreats after blaming a 9-year-old for not seeing a hidden camera in a lavatory
American Airlines has distanced itself from a court filing in which the carrier said a nine-year-old girl should have noticed there was a camera taped to the seat of an airplane lavatory.
Unknown Newfoundland soldier from the First World War heads back home from France after 100 years
Canadian soldiers and government officials arrived in northeastern France this week for a historic mission: returning an unknown Newfoundland soldier back home.
Calgary Philharmonic takes action following investigation into 'deeply troubling' comments by 2 musicians
The Calgary Philharmonic has confirmed its taking action after controversial online comments made by two members of the orchestra.