A Toronto middle school teacher faces sex assault charges for incidents involving a 12-year-old boy.
The two alleged sexual assaults happened between April and May, police said, and are alleged to have happened at the school and while the student was under the supervision of his teacher.
Chi Cuong Hang, 38, of Toronto was scheduled to be in court Thursday, facing four charges; two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference.
He had been teaching at Don Mills Middle School for seven years and was put on "home assignment," which is essentially a paid leave, said Toronto District School Board legal counsel Grant Bowers.
According to Mr. Bowers, four Grade 7 students reported incidents to the school principal on Friday, May 14, and police were called right away. The teacher was put on home assignment the following Monday.
Though four students came forward, the charges only relate to one student, Mr. Bowers said.
A letter sent home to parents from principal Doug Loosemore said the school has been co-operating with police and quickly informed all the appropriate contacts at the Toronto District School Board when it learned about the charges.
"As of today and pending outcome of this matter, Mr. Hang will not be at Don Mill MS and a qualified supply teacher has been retained," Mr. Loosemore wrote.
The school held a meeting in the library at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to give parents more information. Police were scheduled to be there to tell parents what happened and Mr. Bowers and school officials would try to answer any other questions.
In the letter, Mr. Loosemore stressed to parents that while they should remember the charges against the teacher have not been proven in court, "we also cannot and do not take these allegations lightly."
The TDSB will also pursue its own investigation pending the outcome of the case, Mr. Bowers said.
"Of course, its something the board takes seriously," said board spokesperson Kelly Baker.
Counselling is being made available to staff and students and the students are being encouraged to do exactly what their peers did if something is amiss in their classroom: tell the principal.
"We're trying to encourage children to come forward and the good news in the Don Mills case is that obviously [they did]" Mr. Bowers said.
Police believe there may be more alleged victims. Anyone with information is asked to contact police or CrimeStoppers