$220M class action lawsuit launched against Ottawa Catholic School Board over handling of teacher convicted of sexual assault
CTV
Two former St. Matthew Catholic High School students in Ottawa have launched a $220-million class action lawsuit against the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) and former teacher Rick Despatie, a.k.a. Rick Watkins, over the latter's sexual abuse of students and the former's handling of it.
Two former St. Matthew Catholic High School students in Ottawa have launched a $220-million class action lawsuit against the Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) and former teacher Rick Despatie, a.k.a. Rick Watkins, over the latter's sexual abuse of students and the former's handling of it.
Despatie was convicted last September of four counts of sexual assault, four counts of sexual interference, two counts of criminal harassment and one count of sexual exploitation. He was sentenced to two years in prison. Despatie is appealing his conviction.
According to a statement of claim filed in December, the suit alleges the school board received numerous complaints about Despatie's actions over many years but refused to act on them.
"The Board, and school officials at St. Matthew Catholic High School, actively and aggressively downplayed, diminished and discounted multiple complaints made about Despatie. This was due, in part, to the fact that Despatie had close, personal relationships with these school officials, including (former vice-principal) John Purificati," the statement says.
The statement of claim also accuses the school board of failing to preserve and maintain documents and records related to complaints about Despatie and that it failed to train staff about how to properly handle complaints of misconduct by a teacher.
The two main plaintiffs, identified as Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2, were both students in Despatie's Grade 7 math class, one in 2014 and one in 2016, but the class action is being extended to all students of St. Matthew Catholic High School who were sexually assaulted by Despatie between Jan. 1, 1989 and April 30, 2021.
The suit alleges Despatie groped Jane Doe #1's thighs, breasts and neck. She told her mother, who complained to vice-principal John Purificati, but the suit claims he failed to conduct an investigation or report the complaints to the school board or police.
