WINNIPEG — Four males from a private Winnipeg school face charges that include sexual assault with a weapon.
Police say the four, who are between 16 and 18 years old, are also accused of forcible confinement and uttering threats.
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.
The three youth suspects have been detained at the Manitoba Youth Centre.
The 18-year-old is at the Winnipeg Remand Centre.
The child abuse and sex crime units continue to investigate and police say additional charges are pending.
Four students were suspended last week after the accusations were first raised. The alleged victims are in Grades 8, 9 and 10.
Everyone on both sides of the investigation is a boarding student.
The complaints go back to last fall.
St. John’s-Ravenscourt has 830 students enrolled in classes from kindergarten to Grade 12 and 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.