P.E.I. schools to track complaints after substitute who sexually touched student kept teaching
CBC
WARNING: This story contains descriptions of child sex abuse and other content that may be disturbing to readers.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch has implemented a central reporting system to track all complaints regarding staff after it was revealed in court that substitute teacher Matthew Alan Craswell was able to continue working after sexually touching a student at a primary school.
"Formerly, not all incidents were centrally tracked by the Public Schools Branch. We are now tracking any reports of misconduct to monitor for trends or problems," the agency said in a statement to CBC News late Thursday afternoon.
"This tracking mechanism will also be retroactive."
The news comes after guilty pleas were entered by Matthew Alan Craswell, 40, who was first charged last summer with possession and distribution of child pornography after the U.S.-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children flagged his internet activity.
New information came to light during the RCMP investigation, details of which were shared in court Tuesday as Craswell pleaded guilty to four charges related to child sex abuse images and an unrelated incident in which he sexually touched a young girl in a classroom in front of other students at a Stratford primary school.
Court documents indicate school officials were made aware of the primary school incident, but it was not reported to police and Craswell continued to work in schools with older children after the Public Schools Branch was informed. He worked as a substitute teacher on P.E.I. as recently as the spring of 2024.
The PSB's statement contained a detailed outline of how it was dealing with the fallout from the Craswell case and what supports are in place for students, teachers and staff.
Among other things, the statement said:
Earlier Thursday, the education department announced it had ordered a third-party review into how Craswell was able to continue working.
"The recommendations from this work will inform how safeguards, policies, procedures, and processes will be strengthened to reduce the risk to student safety within the Island school system," the Department of Education and Early Years said in an email to CBC News.
"The results of the work will be shared through the education system and school communities, and the general public as this matter is of public interest for the entire province."
The email said the review would begin as soon as "logistical elements are confirmed" and would likely take several months.
The court documents presented Tuesday said Craswell bragged about his sexually abusive behaviour online and counselled like-minded people on how to do the same.
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