Skip to content

Trial resumes for teen accused in St. Michael’s College School sex assault case

Defence lawyers for a teen accused of sexually assaulting two students at a prestigious Toronto high school have finished cross-examining the lead investigator in the case.
23497392_web1_2020113020114-5fc596e2e072f3b166de0045jpeg
Toronto police respond to an incident at St. Michael’s College School, in Toronto, Nov. 19, 2018. The trial of a teen accused of sexually assaulting two students at a prestigious Toronto high school is set to resume today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin

Defence lawyers for a teen accused of sexually assaulting two students at a prestigious Toronto high school have finished cross-examining the lead investigator in the case.

Det. Const. Daniel Sunghing, who is with the Toronto police sex crimes unit, first began his testimony in March before the trial was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The accused, a former student of St. Michael’s College School, has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of gang sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon and assault with a weapon.

The charges relate to incidents that occurred on campus in the fall of 2018.

Court has previously heard there were two sexual assaults at the school in 2018 when boys involved with a school football team pinned down two different victims and sexually assaulted them with a broom handle in a locker room.

Three teens have already pleaded guilty to sexual assault with a weapon and assault with a weapon for their roles in the incidents and have been sentenced to two years of probation.

One of them also pleaded guilty to making child pornography for recording one of the sex assaults in a video that was then shared widely within and outside the school.

Another student received a two-year probationary sentence with no jail time after pleading guilty. The charges against two other students were dropped.

Neither the accused teen, the perpetrators or the victims can be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.