Former Pelham CAO Darren Ottaway had a court date in Cochrane last week, to answer to four criminal charges, some of which are alleged to have occurred in Fonthill. Ottaway is charged with two assault charges (Statute 266 of the Canadian Criminal Code), a sexual interference charge (S.151, C.C.C.), and a sexual assault charge (S.271, C.C.C.).
He was granted bail at his initial court appearance on January 24. Ottaway did not appear in court via Zoom last week before Justice Michel LaBelle. However, lawyer Khalil Bheriani was present on behalf of Ottaway’s defense counsel, Paul Bragagnolo.
Bragagnolo had requested early trial dates from the trial coordinator, and had voiced concern that the trial date initially offered — May 17 — was too far in the future. Justice LaBelle noted that earlier options had been presented, but that Bragagnolo had not provided feedback on these dates.
The matter was adjourned until April 26.
Ottaway is currently on leave from his position as Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Cochrane, a community of 5000 located south of Moosonee in northeastern Ontario. He was hired as Pelham’s CAO in 2012, and was fired in 2019.
