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An Ottawa police officer failed to testify at the trial of a man who kidnapped his daughter, causing the man to be released back into the community pending a new trial date.

The constable, an officer with city police for nearly 13 years, pleaded guilty to discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act last week for repeatedly ignoring subpoenas to show up to a trial. Postmedia has learned that the trial was for the man accused of abducting the officer’s own daughter.

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A publication ban imposed at criminal court shields the identity of the daughter and therefore prevents naming her father.

The kidnapping dates back to January 2014 when police alleged then 20-year-old Andrew Bettencourt kidnapped the officer’s daughter at knifepoint and led police to conduct a six-hour dragnet across the city.

The then 18-year-old daughter had just parked her father’s 2000 BMW 380i, when Bettencourt showed up. They began to argue and then Bettencourt forced her into the passenger side of her father’s car. He hopped into the driver’s seat and sped away from the abduction scene in Orléans.