Abstract: There is described an optical connector comprising a casing having a hollow body and at least one aperture at one end thereof, at least one optical fiber having an outer surface and a fiber end and extending inside the hollow body of the casing along a longitudinal direction thereof, a connector assembly supporting the at least one optical fiber in the casing and aligning the fiber end with the at least one aperture, and an optical monitoring device comprising at least one photodetector in proximity to the fiber end of the at least one optical fiber and adapted to detect naturally leaked light from the fiber end. An optical monitoring device and a method for monitoring optical power in an optical connector are also described.