‘Serious allegations’ of sexual violence levied against Hamilton teacher
The chair of Hamilton's Catholic school board says a male teacher is not currently" teaching at one of their high schools after allegations of sexual violence were posted to social media Thursday afternoon.
Speaking to The Spectator Sunday morning, Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board chair Pat Daly said the board was made aware of a social media post raising serious allegations" against a teacher at Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School late Thursday evening.
Our staff immediately began an (internal) investigation," said Daly, in a phone interview. The next day, the board was made aware of a separate investigation by Hamilton police. We take allegations like this extremely serious."
Daly said the teacher at the centre of the allegations is not currently assigned" to Bishop Ryan Catholic Secondary School. Daly would not confirm the status of the staff member's employment, citing their internal investigation.
When asked how long the teacher had been out of the Rymal Road East school, Daly said shortly after we became aware of the allegations."
He's not teaching students at this time," Daly added.
Daly confirmed the teacher had been at the school for some years" but could not say how long he had been with the board. Daly would not confirm if the teacher was involved in any extracurriculars at the school.
Daly also said he was not previously aware of any allegations of this nature related to a staff member at Bishop Ryan."
In a letter to families Friday, school principal Michael Lawlor said staff are committed to providing a safe learning environment and, as such, takes allegations of this nature very seriously."
Both Lawlor and Daly encouraged anyone with information related to the investigation to contact Hamilton police.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all impacted by the allegations," stated Daly in the letter sent to parents.
In a release Friday afternoon, Hamilton police said its sexual assault unit is aware of the allegations - which included reports or sexual violence and sexual harassment - and encouraged anyone with information to come forward.
Speaking to The Spectator, spokesperson Jackie Penman said they'd received multiple reports as of Friday but could not provide any additional information on the investigation, including when the reports stemmed from.
Daly said the board is also co-operating with police in their investigation.
We want all survivors of sexual violence to know that we believe them and we will respect their choice in when they report an incident, where and how," stated police in the release.
Resources for survivors of sexual violence:
SACHA (Sexual Assault Centre, Hamilton and Area): 24-hour support line 905-525-4162; www.sacha.ca.
SAVIS (Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Services of Halton): 905-875-1555.
Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Care Centre at Hamilton Health Sciences: 905-521-2100 ext. 73557.
Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com