A 41-year-old Clarington councillor accused of leaving a voicemail threatening to kill a potential mayoral candidate and sexually assault his wife has been charged after a three-month investigation by the Peterborough Police Service.
Tom Dingwall, a retired police officer who was planning to run for Clarington mayor in the next municipal election, first posted the allegations against Corinna Traill on social media after receiving the alleged voicemail on August 28.
Dingwall reported the voicemail to Durham Regional Police, who asked Peterborough police to investigate given Traill’s status as a sitting councillor and Dingwall’s former employment as a homicide detective with Durham Regional Police.
Following the Peterborough police investigation, Traill was arrested on Wednesday (December 3) and charged with two counts of uttering threats. She was released on an undertaking and is scheduled to appear in court on January 13.
“As the matter is now before the court, there is nothing further to add,” reads a media release from Peterborough police.
Dingwall alleged that Traill left the voicemail, which threatened him and his wife if he did not withdraw from the mayoral race to clear the way for Joe Neal, who ran against current Clarington mayor Adrian Foster in the last municipal election. Neal has said he was not associated in any way with the alleged voicemail.
For her part, Traill made a public statement in September that she did not leave the voicemail and that “artificial intelligence technology was involved” in generating parts of the message.
Dingwall, who said the voicemail came from Traill’s phone number and that she identified herself by name, refuted Traill’s AI claim by stating that she does not have a copy of the recording and has not heard it.
He also said she left him a second voicemail apologizing for the first voicemail, as well as a detailed text message where she also apologized.
