2023 touching incident involving Craswell was at West Kent School, education minister says
CBC
WARNING: This story contains disturbing descriptions of child sex abuse. Resources and supports for anyone who has experienced sexual violence can be found at the bottom of this story.
P.E.I.'s education minister has confirmed a 2023 school touching incident involving Matthew Craswell, which was internally investigated and deemed not to be sexual, occurred at West Kent Elementary School in Charlottetown.
Minister of Education and Early Years Robin Croucher revealed that detail in the legislature on Friday.
CBC News had previously established that the 2023 incident happened at a Charlottetown-area school, based on information from sources. The Public Schools Branch would not confirm whether was West Kent, citing privacy concerns.
On Thursday, Croucher was asked in the legislature to specify which Charlottetown school was involved in the situation. He said he would bring back an answer when he was sure he could legally do so.
"The second school that Matthew Craswell taught at was West Kent Elementary," he told the house on Friday.
On April 29, Craswell pleaded guilty to sexually touching a student at Glen Stewart Primary School in Stratford, just east of Charlottetown, in April 2024. He also pleaded guilty to three unrelated child pornography charges.
It was during that court proceeding that a previous incident of touching involving a school, for which Craswell was never charged, was revealed publicly for the first time.
"The Public Schools Branch will be as transparent as we can be to the broader public, but we are also constrained by legal and privacy obligations," the organization said in a statement to CBC News Friday afternoon.
The PSB had previously said the incidents at both schools "occurred during classroom games. The students involved reported Craswell touching them on their arms and stomach."
That 2023 situation was known to investigators who analyzed Craswell's digital records in the fall of 2024, scouring thousands of pages of Craswell's online chats.
"During one conversation, [Craswell] alludes to sexually touching three other girls while teaching them," said the court documents presented at the time of his guilty pleas.
"This matter was investigated and the children's parents ultimately declined to allow them to participate in police interviews," said the court document.
Police investigations typically do not proceed unless the people involved are interviewed.
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