Police officer caught beating man on camera avoids jail time

Scott Anthony, 52, was granted a conditional sentence of 18 months, to be served in the community and split evenly between house arrest and curfew.

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A now former provincial police officer who pleaded guilty to assaulting a man during an arrest caught on camera in MacTier, Ont. three years ago will not be spending time behind bars.

Scott Anthony, 52, who resigned from the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) last month ahead of his sentencing hearing, was granted a conditional sentence of 18 months, to be served in the community and split evenly between house arrest and curfew.

Anthony’s conditional sentence comes three years after the officer was captured on camera brutally beating a defenceless, shirtless man using boots, fists and his taser. The video then showed him striking the man repeatedly during a trespassing call at 3 a.m. at the rail yard in MacTier.

The defence presented medical records, along with letters of support for Anthony, who expressed remorse and apologized to the man he sent to hospital. The man told the court as part of his victim impact statement that he suffered what he believes will be lifelong physical and psychological damage at the hands of the former police officer.

Anthony, who was previously scheduled for trial by judge and jury, pleaded guilty in February. He was supported at each of his three in-person court appearances in Muskoka by colleagues, friends, and family members.

“He’s very relieved with the result,” said defence lawyer Peter Brauti. “Some people might view this as a light sentence, in some ways, because it was a serious offence, but if you know all the facts about the case, all of his background, the fact that he was dealing with his significant PTSD issue at the time, this sentence makes sense.”

Anthony, the court heard, was diagnosed with PTSD caused by traumatic incidents while on the job, according to the defence. He was also dealing with the end of a long-term relationship and the illness of his father. Anthony, the court heard, accidentally fired a weapon at the police detachment, and was placed on stress-related leave.

He was not charged with assault until the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was provided surveillance video of the assault in MacTier weeks later for what the Crown described as a “dehumanizing” arrest.

The man suffered serious injuries in the attack and was later charged. His charges were later dropped. The man, whom CTV News will not be identifying, told the court he suffers from lingering concussion symptoms, including light sensitivity and vomiting and battles depression and frequent nightmares.

Anthony and former colleague Ethan Meyer, whom the OPP said is no longer employed by provincial police, were then seen dragging the man by his legs toward the police cruiser while he was handcuffed.

“I don’t know whether the Crown will appeal or not,” said Kerry Evans, the man’s lawyer, outside the courthouse. “I hope they will because if they don’t, there is no police officer that is ever going to go to jail because this is probably the worst scenario that you could possibly have, except for death.”

Justice Olver also sentenced Anthony to community service hours and ordered a weapons bans for 10 years. Olver outlined several aggravating and mitigating factors in the case. The judge called Anthony’s actions a violent breach of the public’s trust. He characterized the beating carried out by a police officer with 27 years of experience as “excessive, gratuitous, and repeated.” He also highlighted the inappropriate use of a taser by Anthony, who trained other OPP officers on how to use the weapon, when he smashed the vulnerable man over the head several times with the conductive energy device. The judge noted the man had drugs and alcohol in his system and had fallen from the train that night.

During his sentencing hearing in July, the defence told the court Anthony should not have to spend time behind bars with the very criminals he sent to jail, saying Anthony was struggling with his mental health and feared for his safety at the time of the call. The defence argued his moral culpability was therefore reduced.

“PTSD is not a defence or an excuse, but perhaps an explanation,” said the judge in reply during Friday’s sentencing decision.

After providing a court-ordered DNA sample to police inside the courthouse for well over an hour, Anthony rushed out of the courthouse to a waiting pick up truck before driving off. He did not provide comment on the sentence.