Her sexual allegations against a sergeant were finally being investigated. Did a jealous officer trigger it?

She sounded the alert near a sergeant years agone. But sources say a recent furtherance triggered the investigation

WARNING: This story mentions suicide and contains graphic accounts of sexual harassment and assault.

An investigation into an Ottawa police sergeant who died by suicide in March is raising questions about what information the force had when sexual misconduct allegations made by college students surfaced four years ago and resurfaced three years ago — and about why the criminal investigation only began this year.

He was investigated first by the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and more recently by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) for what Ottawa police described as "off-duty misconduct."

The investigation ended after Cleroux died on March 6.

Cleroux had not been charged.

The sergeant's death, the circumstances surrounding it and his popularity among officers and in the community have made the investigation into Cleroux a sensitive topic at the force, one that no one wants to discuss on the record.

One of Cleroux's former students wants those answers, too.

When investigators met with L in January this year they showed her the screengrab of her anonymous warning message about Cleroux, she said. 

L had posted it online the night of May 1, 2023, on a Facebook page used by women in the Ottawa area to warn each other about problematic romantic partners, L said.

Cleroux panicked about the post within hours of it appearing, L said, because a screengrab of it quickly started circulating among officers. 

In response, she took her post off Facebook.

Read more about L's story here.

More recently, on the evening of Nov. 11, 2025, Cleroux called L in distress because the post was once again making the rounds, she said. 

According to L, Cleroux told her that one of his colleagues had gone to police brass with a screengrab of the warning because they were jealous that Cleroux was about to be promoted to staff sergeant.

Cleroux said he wasn’t sleeping, eating or going out as a result of the ensuing investigation, L recalled. She also recalled Cleroux saying that he couldn't tell her what to do, but that he asked her not to say anything.

It angers L that a colleague of Cleroux's might have handed over the screengrab because of a promotion, nearly three years after it was first circulating widely among police.

"Sexual assault shouldn't be used as blackmail to get a position," L said. The allegations should have been dealt with as soon as the officer saw the post, she added, not when it was convenient for them.

Ottawa police won’t respond "to assumptions or speculation about the motivations of anyone who reported about the behaviour of Sgt. Cleroux," the force said in a statement.

"You're talking about people that have a perspective … and that's the nature of course when you have something like those allegations. And it'll never be investigated. It'll never be sorted out, [because Cleroux's death ended the investigation]," Stubbs said.

"Five per cent? 50 per cent? 75 per cent it's accurate? It's not 100 though. It's not 100. I will tell you that," Stubbs said. "And that's where it's dangerous, because when you put something out there it's there forever."

Asked whether the force received any information from La Cité about the allegations back in 2021-22, Stubbs replied: "I know it all. I know it all. But — no, I mean I know some of the answers, but again … I got my dad cap on."

"Of course, you know … victims of any type of behaviour is concerning to me as well," Stubbs added. "And we deal with these things. You see this. We have different people that have been under charge for bad behaviour, whether it's sexually or not. And, we do this. And we take it very seriously. Whenever there's allegations we take it seriously and we throw resources at it and investigate it. Just like we did at the time."

Stubbs then deferred all questions involving La Cité to La Cité: "I'm not going to talk about them. You can go ask them."

La Cité has repeatedly declined to comment or confirm if Cleroux had ever worked at the college, writing in a statement that providing answers would violate its human resources policy and Ontario law. La Cité did not cite which law.

School boards, police, the military and other organizations routinely share basic employment details about named individuals with the media upon request in Ontario.

Algonquin College also runs a police foundations program and hires Ottawa police to help staff it. A college spokesperson said Cleroux never worked or volunteered at Algonquin.

No official announcement of Cleroux's upcoming promotion to staff sergeant had gone out this past fall, sources said, but word of the chief's decision was spreading among officers in November.

Formal notice of a promotion typically comes in an emailed general order to members within a week of the chief calling the successful candidate to congratulate them, a source said.

Cleroux's promotion was either rescinded or put on hold for the investigation, and he went on medical leave shortly after, multiple sources said.

The Ottawa Police Association, the union representing the force's rank-and-file officers and civilian members, confirmed Cleroux was on medical leave before he was suspended Jan. 23, but didn't know exactly when that leave began.

Ottawa police won't confirm or comment on leaves of absence, the force said.

OPS also did not answer repeated requests for an answer about whether Cleroux had ever been under any form of investigation prior to last fall — for example, when the allegations were first made in 2021 or when the Facebook warning emerged in 2023.

In its final response, the force repeated only that Cleroux's suspension in January was his first.

"We have nothing further to add on this point," police wrote by email.

Ottawa police deferred all questions about the investigation to OPP, saying they can't comment on another force’s file.

OPP initially said all questions had to go through Ottawa police, and later said they were working with the coroner on a review of Cleroux's death and therefore can’t provide details.

L said Cleroux sexually harassed and assaulted her at an Orléans pub in early December 2021.

Another student, G, said Cleroux took her on a couple ride-alongs, during which he tried to touch her genitals twice. G asked not be named because she's afraid it will impact her work as a first responder. She later declined a formal interview because she did not want to relive what had happened.

In late 2021 Cleroux was supervising L, G, and two other young women during simulations of police techniques at La Cité. The group of four women were 19 to 20 years old, L said, and nearing the end of the second year of their two-year program.

Cleroux "took notice" of their group because they were doing well, L said, and during class he asked them if they'd be interested in a ride-along at some point.

"We were like, yeah, for sure. Being students, we want to see how it is on the street and see what it's all about and if it's something we want to do," L said.

Cleroux suggested that they all go to a bar together to discuss it.

Within a few days, L received a friend request on Facebook from an account with a name she didn’t recognize: Bobby Clear.

It was Cleroux, L said, and about two days into messaging her he began sending sexually explicit material — things like memes of naked women and normal-seeming video clips ending with pornography.

"He would ask about my relationship … if it was serious or just casual — and if I was into voyeurism and if I would consider having someone watch while I was sleeping with my ex at the time," L said. "And I told him, 'No, I'm not interested in that.'"

Cleroux's messages calmed down after she expressed her lack of interest, L said.

L and two other students in the group — along with one of her male friends — met Cleroux at The Bad Alibi in early December 2021.

L said she asked her friend to tag along that night because Cleroux's earlier sexual messages had given her a "bad feeling."

When the group arrived at the pub, L said it appeared Cleroux had already been drinking.

"He looks a bit tipsy and we're like, OK, like is it a party or is it to talk? And he orders us some drinks," L said.

One of the other young women said she had driven to the bar and couldn't drink. L said Cleroux repeatedly asked L's friend to follow that woman home in his vehicle so she could drop off her vehicle and return with him. 

The woman said no multiple times but eventually relented, and it took an hour for her friend to drive her home and back, L said.

While they were gone, Cleroux messaged L and said she looked good, L said. She also stated that Cleroux tried to grab her backside once under the table, and once tried to touch her breast. 

L said she brushed him off and didn't say anything.

Then, L said, Cleroux asked her over social media messages to take an empty glass to the bathroom, urinate in it, and bring it back for him to drink.

L said she messaged him no, but he asked again.

"Then he just looked at me because we were across the table. … And he grabbed his drink and slammed it, and he was like, 'Go.' And I just felt very pressured in that moment because he's still my teacher. He's still the one grading the simulations. He's still in charge of my success in the program," L said.

The other young woman who was still there "had no clue" about what was happening over social media, L said. 

"All she heard was 'Go.' So she just assumed probably that I was just going to get him a drink," she said.

"So I went and I did that. And then he drank it, looking into my eyes, and I just remember feeling so disgusted. … Just thinking about it right now still makes me feel disgusted about myself."

When her friend returned with her classmate, L pulled him aside and told him what happened. They left shortly after, and L said that when Cleroux hugged her goodbye Cleroux again grabbed her backside.

About a month and a half after the The Bad Alibi hangout, in early 2022, L asked a trusted teacher at the college to be moved out of Cleroux's supervision and to keep that request just between them. 

The teacher insisted on knowing why, L said, and after she told him her account he said he had to tell the college.

"His jaw dropped. He was not impressed at all with the behaviour of not only a teacher, but a sergeant of the Ottawa police," L recalled.

After that meeting the director of La Cité's emergency and judicial services institute, Dominique Germain, quickly reached out, L said. 

That led to a second meeting with L, the woman who left The Bad Alibi briefly to drop off her vehicle and come back, and another employee of the college.

After the two students told the college their accounts of what happened, they were asked if they wanted to go to the police. 

They said no because they were focused on graduating, L said.

La Cité's sexual violence protocol in late 2021 and early 2022 stated that survivors had the right to decide whether to report incidents to police or not.

According to that policy, in some circumstances, the college might report to police without a survivor's consent, "for example, when the safety of other members of the college community is threatened."

After the meeting with Germain and the other college staff member, L gave the college a USB flash drive containing about 75 screengrabs of messages between her and Cleroux, she said.

L never saw Cleroux at the college again, and she was told he was no longer allowed to teach there, she said.

Germain declined to comment when reached by phone.

She now runs Algonquin College's Police and Public Safety Institute.

L's anonymous social media warning about Cleroux was posted on a Facebook page used by women in the Ottawa area to warn each other about problematic romantic partners.

It didn’t stay online long.

Within hours of it going online on May 1, 2023, the young woman who was at The Bad Alibi that night but declined to talk to La Cité sent L a message on Snapchat.

The woman said Cleroux was "panicking" about the Facebook post because he said a screengrabs of it was circulating among police and that Cleroux was "afraid to lose his job," L recalled.

L soon decided to delete the warning.

"He's a cop and kept offering ride-alongs during the night shift (I was in school for policing at the time) but kept saying it’ll be our secret since it's Covid," the Facebook post said in part. It also mentioned the unwanted physical touching.

Ottawa police said in their statement that they have "full confidence" in the way they carried out the investigation "after the information was reported to us."

"As soon as it became apparent that a criminal investigation was required, the OPS immediately requested the assistance of the Ontario Provincial Police."

While Cleroux was on suspension, members of the force were regularly checking in on him and offering support, including the night he died, the force added.

His funeral at Beechwood Cemetery on March 22 was heavily attended by colleagues, community members, family and friends.

"A life has been lost. A wife no longer has her husband, two daughters no longer have their father, and many colleagues and friends are grieving a person they cared for very much," wrote OPA president Matthew Cox in a statement. 

Cox added that suicide "unfortunately plagues police officers in concerning and disproportionate numbers" and that more needs to be done to address it.

Union members are encouraged to reach out to its resiliency program for support.

A veteran officer who joined the force in 2003, Cleroux had worked in patrol and more recently with neighbourhood resource teams in central division and the newly formed south division, according to Ottawa police.

He had been serving as the acting staff sergeant for south division before he went on medical leave. A detective-sergeant from the homicide unit stepped in as acting staff sergeant for south division and now holds the position officially.

Before his policing career Cleroux worked for the city for five years, bringing his total pensionable service for the city to 28 years, Cox said.

Cleroux was perhaps best known in the Vanier neighbourhood, where he was born and raised and worked for years, and which he loved.

Multiple Ottawa police officers, past and present, declined to talk about Cleroux's popularity among colleagues and his years of community work.

Do you have information to share? Write in confidence to kristy.nease@cbc.ca or call her office landline at 613-288-6435.

Do you need help, or does someone you know need help? If you're in immediate danger, call 911.

The Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres maintains a list of services. The provincial government does as well.

211 Ontario also maintains a database of services. You can search by topic ("abuse/assault") and your specific location. Live chat is available Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. To 9 p.m. ET, and a chatbot is available 24/7. You can also text 211, call 211 or email gethelp@211ontario.ca.

The Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada maintains a list for every province and territory.

If you or someone you know needs help, here are some mental health-related resources in Ontario, which differ depending on where in the province you are:

Ontario maintains a list of mental health services for first responders.

The Suicide Crisis Hotline can be reached 24/7 by calling or texting 988 anywhere in Canada.

On 211 Ontario, search by topic ("mental health/addictions") and your location. Live chat is available Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. To 9 p.m. ET, and a chatbot is available 24/7. You can also text 211, call 211 or email gethelp@211ontario.ca.

ConnexOntario is a directory of community mental health and addictions services in Ontario. You can connect with someone for information and referrals to services in your community 24/7 via 1-866-531-2600, texting "CONNEX" to 247247, live web chat or email.

Senior writer, justice

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