This time the victims are four small children—one still in diapers.

It seems that a member of Ottawa’s finest was of the view that whipping his children was the fatherly way to enforce compliance. One child was lashed so severely on one occasion that he couldn’t walk. His ex-wife finally called police after his assault on the toddler, which left “large red whip marks.”

Unbelievably, the officer was freed by Justice Gilles Renaud with a conditional discharge. And here is the learned judge’s reasoning:

I find that the refusal of a discharge in this instance would be contrary to the public interest by depriving the community of the skills and talents of [the accused] as a police officer.

The man was seen laughing shortly after the verdict. Hard to blame him, really.