A veteran London cop has resigned amid allegations he hired a sex-trade worker and insulted fellow officers on social media.
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Seven professional misconduct charges against Const. Juan Romero, 47, were stayed Friday after a tribunal heard the 20-year service member had resigned from the force.
But that’s not the end of legal trouble for Romero, who was arrested multiple times in the last two years and spent six days in jail last spring. He faces sentencing next month in an unrelated criminal case.
Romero was facing seven counts of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act, the now-replaced law governing policing in Ontario under which forces held disciplinary hearings into professional misconduct.
The misconduct allegations against Romero, all dating from 2023, were outlined in documents made public at an August hearing overseen by Greg Walton, a retired OPP superintendent.
Romero is alleged to have hired a sex-trade worker, made profane posts on social media about colleagues, tried to intimidate a sergeant, flashed his badge while trying to get a loan at a payday loan business and emailed a Free Press reporter in a “threatening, derogatory or profane manner,” the documents say.
The email was sent nearly a month after The Free Press reported on criminal charges against Romero. The Free Press forwarded the email to the London police professional standards branch.
No additional information about Romero’s case or resignation was read into the record at Friday’s brief hearing. Romero’s lawyer, Lucas O’Hara, who also represents him in the criminal case, declined comment.
Romero was suspended with pay after he was first arrested on Dec. 12, 2023, and charged with two counts of assault, assault with a weapon, resisting arrest and obstructing police. He was arrested again 11 days later and charged with failing to comply with an undertaking.
Romero spent six days in custody at Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre after police arrested him May 7, 2024, and charged him with criminal harassment and failing to comply with a release order.
Court records show Romero pleaded guilty to harassment and one count of failing to comply with an undertaking Dec. 18. He completed a mental health diversion program and the other charges were withdrawn.
Romero will be sentenced Feb. 5.