OTTAWA – Military police have charged retired Lt. Gen. Trevor Cadieu with two counts of sexual assault, three months after a longtime army officer hung up his uniform and headed for Ukraine while still under criminal investigation.
The charges were announced Wednesday by Canada’s military police chief, Brigadier General Brigadier General.  Simon Trudeau, and are related to incidents that allegedly took place in 1994 at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont.
Cadieu, who has denied any wrongdoing in the past, is set to take over as commander of the Canadian military last September.  A veteran of Bosnia and Afghanistan, he recently provided analysis and advice to the Chief of Defense Staff.
But his appointment as army commander was suspended as military police investigated what he described as “historic allegations” against him, which Cadieu said in a statement at the time were false.
He then withdrew in early April as the investigation continued and sources unauthorized commenting on his whereabouts said he had headed to Ukraine to help defend against the Russian invasion.
Cadieu said in a statement: “I have just been informed that I have been indicted by the CFNIS.
“I am making arrangements to return to Canada from Ukraine and will continue to work with this process, as I have done from the beginning.”
Trindo, meanwhile, defended the decision to indict the military police in Cadieu amid a call by retired Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbor to transfer criminal sexual investigations from the military to the political authorities.
The general noted that Arbor left the door open to leave investigations to the military police if they were close to completion, adding: “As this investigation was nearing completion, the civilian police service of the same jurisdiction chose not to accept it.”
A similar decision was made in the case of retired Admiral Haydn Edmundson.  The former army chief of staff was charged in December with one count of sexual assault and one count of obscenity and is due to stand trial in August 2023.
Cadieu’s case will be heard in the civil court.
He is one of the many senior commanders investigated by the military police for alleged sexual harassment in the last two years.
These allegations forced an account within the military of its failure to address the misconduct.  They also criticized the Liberal government for handling the issue and called for more external military oversight.
Cadieu vehemently denied any wrongdoing in a statement issued last autumn, saying: “The allegations are false, but must be thoroughly investigated to find out the truth.”  He said he gave information to investigators to prove his innocence.
The retired officer also said at the time that he had asked Eyre to select someone else to serve as commander of the Canadian Army, adding: “I know these false allegations, as intended, will cast doubt on my ability to lead this. environment”.
Cadieu’s decision to travel to Ukraine was followed by an order from Eyre forbidding serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces from joining the thousands of foreigners who have flocked to the country to help fight the Russian invasion.
Russia has reportedly threatened to prosecute any foreigner captured while fighting in Ukraine, and a senior Canadian official last month voiced speculation that Moscow was trying to use captured foreign fighters for propaganda purposes.
This Canadian Press report was first published on June 15, 2022.