TORONTO

A former Green Party candidate who ran in the 2011 provincial election has been charged with four counts of sex assault against three women at York University this month.

Keith Johnathan Jarrett, 27, who is also a former York U political science student and employee, was arrested Wednesday.

Toronto Police say the first alleged assault took place on March 3, around 8 p.m. when a man approached a 28-year-old woman at the library. He began to strike up a conversation and followed her.

When the woman attempted to walk away, cops say the man sexually assaulted her and she then fled.

Two weeks later, on March 17, an 18-year-old woman was at York Lanes around 1 p.m. when a man began chatting with her. After the woman attempted to walk away, the man allegedly sexually assaulted her. Half hour later, the man again found the victim and tried to talk to her. When she tried leaving, he sexually assaulted her another time, police allege.

In a third incident, a 20-year-old woman was walking towards Vari Hall when police said she was approached by a man and sexually assaulted. The man then took off.

“These women do not know him,” Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu said Friday. “One victim came forward and then a notice went out (on campus). That’s when the other victims came forward. These girls don’t even know each other.”

Jarrett ran in the York South-Weston riding and accumulated 474 votes — or a 1.52% share of the total votes. According to Elections Canada, he was also listed as a candidate for the Green Party of Canada in the 2015 federal election for the Humber River-Black Creek riding.

“While we do not comment on ongoing investigations, the Green Party of Ontario takes the issue of sexual assault very seriously,” executive director Becky Smit said in a statement to the Toronto Sun. “The individual in question is not a current member. Regardless, should any member be found guilty of a criminal offence, the GPO has an established process by which participation in the party and/or individual memberships would be reviewed and revoked.”

“The GPO’s vetting process for candidates is robust and ensures no one convicted for sexual assault is eligible for candidacy,” Smit said.

Sidhu said Jarrett is known to police and the investigation is ongoing.

He doesn’t appear to be a professor, she added.

York University said in a statement Friday that Jarrett was an employee in 2015 and is not currently enrolled as a student.

jyuen@postmedia.com