St. Michael's principal and president resign amid school's sexual assault investigations

Nov 23 2018, 9:19 pm

Both the principal and president at St. Michael’s College School have resigned.

According to the school, president Fr. Jefferson Thompson, CSB, and principal Greg Reeves resigned “citing their shared desire to move the school forward without distractions and allow it to focus on healing and change after the horrific events of student misbehaviour that came to light last week.”

So far, 6 students have been charged in connection with the alleged group sexual assault at St. Michael’s, according to the Toronto police.

“Greg Reeves and Fr. Thompson have always put the welfare, education and formation of our students first – and they do so once again today,” says Michael Forsayeth, the Chair of the Board of Directors.

“Having fulfilled their moral and ethical obligations to manage the immediate crisis and engage our school community, this courageous decision allows us to move forward with our goals: understanding how these events could have occurred, regaining the trust of our community and bringing cultural change to our school.”

The school also released an action plan that includes launching a Respect and Culture Review to examine “the traditions, rituals, and social practices of students at every grade level and in all areas of school life.”

It also announced it would be cancelling all events involving external groups, teams and public performances for the remainder of 2018.

It will also be implementing an anonymous voicemail for students. The school will ask  students to report any inappropriate behaviours and incidents they have experienced, seen, or heard about at the school.

Police say the six boys are facing multiple criminal charges, including assault, gang sexual assault, and assault with a weapon, will be considered young offenders.

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