Teens plead guilty in St. Michael’s sex assault scandal
Caution: This article contains disturbing material
TORONTO — Three teens pleaded guilty Thursday in a sexual assault scandal at an all-boys Catholic school that made national headlines last year and sparked a public conversation about hazing and bullying.
The teens, all former students at the prestigious St. Michael’s College School in Toronto, each pleaded guilty to one count of sex assault with a weapon and one count of assault with a weapon. One of them also pleaded guilty to making child pornography.
Crown attorney Erin McNamara read out an agreed statement of facts in youth court, saying that in one of the attacks, a member of one of the football teams walked into the locker room after practice on Oct. 17, 2018, and heard a “roar” of teammates chanting “eh.”
The teen tried to run, she said, but “a mob ... took him down.”
Three teens held down their teammate and pulled his pants down, while another smacked him on the buttocks with his hand as “people laughed,” McNamara said. Then, she said, the victim had a broom “shoved into his buttocks and anus several times.”
Another boy captured the incident on video, which was later deleted at the request of the victim, she said.
The three teens were originally charged with sex assault with a weapon in that incident, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of assault with a weapon.
On Nov. 7, a similar incident occurred after a game once the coaches had left the locker room, the Crown said.
The three teens pleaded guilty to sexual assault with a weapon for that incident.
Seven students, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were eventually charged with assault and sexual assault relating to three incidents involving members of one of the school’s football teams.
The sexual assault and assault charges against a fourth student were withdrawn in August. The cases of two other students accused in the scandal have concluded, but the Ministry of the Attorney General has refused to disclose those outcomes, citing provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The last student facing charges has a court hearing scheduled for Oct. 17.