A Hamilton police officer who was found guilty in April of assaulting a man in custody pleaded guilty Tuesday to a disciplinary charge of discreditable conduct under the Ontario Police Services Act.
Const. Kudo Park was found guilty in April of assault after punching a handcuffed man who had spat in his face in 2015.
Park received a suspended sentence in July, which doesn't carry jail time but does leave him with a criminal record.
After his appearance at the central station Tuesday, Park declined to comment.
In July, he told a judge that he wanted to continue to be a police officer and pledged to never be on "this side" of court ever again.
"It's been a very difficult time for me," Park said in July.
Park's defence lawyer on the criminal charge, Gary Clewley, previously said a discreditable conduct charge could mean a one-year demotion.
That would be "further financial penalty" to the $25,000 to $30,000 Park has been out from not being able to attend court or sign up for paid duty police shifts while he was on administrative leave, Clewley said.
'There was a large quantity of saliva'
The April 2015 incident happened after someone called 9-1-1 and reported seeing a man walking on King Street West with a dog, waving a butcher knife.
Park was not the first officer to the scene. By the time he arrived, the knife had been taken from the man. But as Park got closer to assist two other officers and distract the man, the man went from "compliant to belligerent," Ontario Court Justice Robert Gee said in April.
"He reared his head back and spat in Officer Park's face," the judge said. "There was a large quantity of saliva that went in Park's eyes and mouth."
Park immediately punched the man. But a few moments later he returned where the man was being held on the ground. He believed the man was still out of control, he said earlier in the court proceeding. He punched him two more times.
The next day, as the man was being checked out for communicable diseases, doctors found a fracture and a piece of "floating bone" in his face.
The second and third punches formed the centre of the guilty verdict.
Park is next expected to appear Jan. 15, where the Hamilton Police Service and his representative from the police union will make submissions on a sentence for the misconduct charge.
