A Peel Regional Police officer has been demoted after pleading guilty to misconduct and being convicted criminally of unsafely storing several guns, including one “with ammunition readily available,” with his young children living in his home.

Const. Donald Malott, an eight-year member of the force and road safety services officer, pleaded guilty to three counts of discreditable conduct at his Police Services Act hearing and received a reduction in rank from First Class Constable to Second Class Constable for three months, hearing officer Supt. Colleen Fawcett ruled.

Malott is a licensed firearm owner and avid hunter who owns several firearms.

He was charged on March 20, 2016, by the OPP with six counts of unsafe storage of a firearm after officers responded to his home in the Town of Mono, in response to a 911 call about a “domestic dispute” between Malott and his wife.

While officers were at the home, they were told there was a handgun stored in the kitchen drawer and that it was not stored securely. Officers were led to the kitchen where a .22-calibre handgun was located “with ammunition readily available,” the Police Services Act hearing heard.

Police then found a number of guns within the residence, many of which Malott advised police of and indicated their location.

In addition to the unsecured handgun in the kitchen drawer, a bolt-action Remington .300-calibre rifle was found in an unlocked bedroom closet which was leaning against the wall in the back corner with no trigger lock, the hearing was told.

There were additional guns stored within the vicinity of a locked gun vault in the basement of the residence that were not secured, including a 12-gauge shotgun leaning against a wall “that was not trigger locked or secured in any way,” Fawcett said in her ruling.

Malott’s two children, aged 2 and 3 at the time, were home.

Mallet pleaded guilty to three counts of breach of firearms regulations in relation to the three unsecured guns and was handed a conditional sentence plus 12 months probation in Orangeville court.