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Four students charged in Winnipeg private school sex assault case

Four students charged in Winnipeg private school sex assault case

WINNIPEG — Four students from an exclusive private Winnipeg school face charges that include sexual assault with a weapon and police say more charges could be pending.

Police spokeswoman Const. Jacqueline Chaput said the accused are between 16 and 18 and were being held in custody. The alleged victims are in Grades 8, 9 and 10.

“The males have all been charged with ... sexual assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and uttering threats,” Chaput said Thursday.

“The three youth suspects were detained at the Manitoba Youth Centre, and the 18-year-old suspect was detained at the Winnipeg Remand Centre.”

Allegations surfaced last week that several younger boarders at St. John’s-Ravenscourt School had been abused in what one school official called organized bullying. Court documents state a wooden stick was used in some of the alleged assaults.

Stephen Johnson, the head of the school, called the charges serious and morally reprehensible. He said what allegedly happened clearly contravenes the code of conduct that students are supposed to follow.

“Something like this happening is quite unusual and deeply disturbing,” he said.

Johnson said the school has called in psychologists and counsellors to help the alleged victims and other students deal with what has happened.

A key question will be why did the students not speak to adults earlier about what was happening to them. There are 10 adults who live with the 50 boarding students. The allegations stem back to last fall.

“What led them to the position where they felt they couldn’t talk to a trusted adult? Fear of retribution? A code of secrecy? Boys not wanting to rat on someone or fear the adults wouldn’t do anything?,” Johnson said.

“Clearly unsafe things were happening. What was it that led to them to not report something that was morally reprehensible?”

Johnson said the school’s code of conduct does not clearly state that students should speak out if they are being abused. He said educators have always believed that it was a given that individuals would come forward if they are being wronged.

“I think that it is probably not spelled out in such a specific way because it is generally understood that that is what you do,” he said. “The part that is so stunning to us is that we thought it was.”

Two of the suspects are from Nigeria, one is from China and one is from Alberta.

Chaput said the police child abuse and sex crime units continue to investigate and additional charges are pending.

“Investigators have had the opportunity to interview one victim. There are a number of victims or possible victims that will be interviewed in the future,” she said.

Four students were suspended last week after the accusations were first raised. Two withdrew from the school rather than be expelled. Everyone on both sides of the investigation is a boarding student.

St. John’s-Ravenscourt has 830 students enrolled in classes from kindergarten to Grade 12, including 50 boarding students in Grade 8 and up. Tuition fees range up to $37,000 a year.

The school says about half of its boarders are from outside Canada, including Chile, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria and Taiwan.

Johnson said the scandal has tarnished the school’s reputation. The challenge now is to help the students deal with what has happened and ensure that it never happens again.

“The school has a local and a national reputation of which it is very proud. Reputations are hard won and easily lost,” he said.

“And I think for us now reputations count the most when times are tough. Our job now is to do an exemplary job on this follow through.”