Former Town of Pelham CAO Darren Ottaway appeared at a preliminary hearing via Zoom in a Cochrane, ON court before Justice Michelle Rocheleau on Tuesday morning, April 11, to answer to charges related to incidents alleged to have occurred prior to 2019, when Ottaway was still working in Pelham as the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer.
Counsel for the defense told the court that Ottaway was recovering from brain surgery. The Crown attorney in the case said that he had a conversation with the key witness that morning when she was present at the courthouse, “and it looked like she was lukewarm on the matter. Thereafter she left me a note indicating that she would not be testifying.”
Her Honour Rocheleau responded to this news saying, “Since there is no new evidence, there will be a dismissal. There is no basis upon which to commit the accused. Files will be discharged.”
In July of 2022, Ottaway’s primary lawyer, Paul Bragagnolo, told Justice Michel Labelle that his client had suffered a medical emergency, and was in the intensive care unit at an unspecified southern Ontario hospital. Bragagnolo said that Ottaway had suffered seizures, and may have a brain tumour.
Ottaway’s medical prognosis was unknown, but Bragagnolo told the court later, in August, that Ottaway had been released from hospital “with life-threatening medical concerns.”
Ottaway had initially been facing two assault charges, a sexual interference charge, and a sexual assault charge. However, Crown Prosecutor Justin Reneaud withdrew one of the charges against Ottaway last October, telling the court that the single count of common assault against Ottaway’s wife, Paula, “has no reasonable prospect of conviction.”
Bragagnolo previously told the court that his wish was to return to Niagara for the sexual assault and sexual interference charges against Ottaway to be addressed.
Since his dismissal from Pelham, Ottaway had been employed as the Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Cochrane, a community of 5000 located south of Moosonee in northeastern Ontario. He was granted bail at his initial court appearance on January 24 2022, and has been on a medical leave of absence without pay during the court case. Cochrane Town Council hired a new CAO last year.
