Teacher charged for not helping student

LONDON, ONT. • A supply teacher at a school in St. Thomas, Ont., has been criminally charged after allegedly failing to respond to a student’s medical emergency in class, police say.

The 26-year-old occasional teacher in the Thames Valley District school board is charged with failing to provide the necessities of life after a medical emergency involving a student in November, St. Thomas police said in a statement Friday.

During the investigation, police discovered a student experiencing a medical episode in class was “not provided with the necessaries required to ensure their well-being,” police said.

“The student was taken to hospital where they were admitted and treated for a serious medical condition. The student has since been released from hospital,” police said.

The identity of the teacher and the name of the school, including whether it was a high school or elementary school, have not been released. The age and identity of the student have not been disclosed.

The Thames Valley District school board has three high schools in the city — Arthur Voaden, Parkside and Central Elgin Collegiate Institute — and seven elementary schools. The board has approximately 83,000 students in London and Middlesex, Elgin and Oxford counties.

The charges stem from the fact that teachers, who are in a position of trust and authority, have a duty “to provide supervision when one person is under the other’s charge and is unable to provide necessaries of life for themselves,” St. Thomas police said Friday.

The teacher was charged and released from custody with a future court date.