Ridley College students charged with sex offences

Alleged incidents happened on-campus; victim a male youth

Niagara Regional Police have charged two Ridley College students with sexual assault as a result of an investigation that began last month.

Two male international students under the age of 16 surrendered themselves to detectives from the child abuse unit in Niagara Falls Wednesday. Police later sent them for a bail hearing at the Robert S.K. Welch Courthouse in St. Catharines.

Both are charged with sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon and sexual assault party of the offence. The victim is also a male under the age of 16.

Andrea Carisse, Ridley College’s director of strategic communications and marketing, said the private school became aware of the incidents at the beginning of December.

“We take allegations of harassment and abuse of any kind extremely seriously,” Carisse said. “As soon as we became aware of this situation, in accordance with the law, our policies and procedures, we contacted both the Niagara Regional Police Service and Family and Children’s Services Niagara.”

Carisse said the college has notified the parents of the students involved and would continue to co-operate with police . She said the school has also made available additional resources to support students and employees.

Detectives began their investigation after an allegation of physical and sexual abuse of a child, a police media release said. The officers conducted “multiple interviews regarding the oncampus conduct of multiple youths.”

The investigation centres on a period between September 2018 and August 2019.