Teacher’s crimes ‘devastated’ community
School ‘had a pall over it,’ court told at sentencing hearing for Thomas Cavanagh
Editor’s note: This article contains descriptions of sex crimes against children that may be upsetting or disturbing for some readers. If you or anyone you know is in need of assistance, the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre runs a 24-hour crisis support line at 1-705-741-0260.
Sarah Bass remembers the typically vibrant, laughter-filled school was quiet and seemed colder and darker.
News had broken that former Douro Grade 4 St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School teacher Thomas Christopher Cavanagh had been charged with sexual offences involving children.
Cavanagh later pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, transmitting sexually explicit material to a person under 18, and child luring.
“The place had a pall over it,” Bass wrote in a victim impact statement entered as an exhibit at Cavanagh’s sentencing hearing on Tuesday.
Bass, a parent of students at the Douro school and chair of the Catholic School Council for the school, was one of three parents to voice the impacts of Cavanagh’s crimes on the tight-knit school and community.
Although the crimes Cavanagh pleaded guilty to didn’t involve students at the school, Bass wrote that students, teachers, and parents became indirect victims.
“We were collectively sick, anxious and furious,” she wrote to the judge.
“The sentiment echoed through the whole community when they heard the news.”
In the days and weeks following, Bass told the court parents were navigating how to talk to their kids about what had happened.
“This is part of the ‘collateral damage’ that Chris Cavanagh has inflicted on the children and families of our school,” she wrote.
“This news devastated our small community, and, a year later, it’s affecting us.”
Carl Maloney, a parent and
probation and parole officer in Peterborough, wrote that Cavanagh’s arrest brought feelings of anger, shock and panic.
“The thought that a trusted person in our children’s lives could commit such offences is sickening and horrendous,” he wrote in his statement.
“That it has happened in such a tiny and supportive community makes it significantly worse and damages the trust that has been established over the years.”
Maloney wrote that he and his wife took the time to explain to their children what happened, and as appropriately as possible, what the charges meant. He said the children were forced to grow up in many ways following Cavanagh’s arrest.
“My son, who was in his class, struggled to understand how someone he had trusted and liked could be so deceitful and victimize other children while still attending their classroom every day,” he wrote.
Maloney noted that his son and many of his friends had a very difficult time in the weeks and months following the incident attending school and trying to re-establish a routine while trying to deal with emotions they did not understand.
“There was a feeling of betrayal, as they have been told a teacher is someone they could always trust and confide in,” he wrote.
“There remains a sense of distrust and uncertainty with many in the school community, and my hope is that the sentence provides enough of a statement to allow the families affected by his actions to provide an aspect of closure and allow them to rebuild some of the trust.”
Stacey Cowie, a parent and Peterborough Police Service officer, said her daughter felt physically ill knowing her teacher had been charged with such disturbing crimes.
“She immediately began to question actions she had observed while at school of him taking selfies and being on his cellphone,” Cowie wrote.
“She was worried that he had hurt someone.”
Cowie noted that her daughter and others had online learning with Cavanagh during the pandemic.
“My daughter spent that time in her bedroom, where she was required to have her camera on to ensure she was engaged in class,” Cowie explained.
“The thought of him being in my daughter’s room, be it virtually, makes me physically feel ill.”
Being a police officer, Cowie told the court she is aware parents cannot protect children from harm all the time, and these types of people live among us, but she is truly disgusted that a teacher could commit such offences.
On Tuesday, assistant Crown attorney Lisa Wannamaker submitted that a four-and-ahalf-year sentence would be appropriate, while Cavanagh’s lawyer will argue for a conditional sentence at later date when she brings an application forward to challenge the mandatory minimum sentence for child luring.
Currently, the mandatory minimum sentence is one year incarceration and doesn’t allow Cavanagh to serve his sentence on house arrest.
Through investigation, officers located 100 images and six videos of child pornography sent or received through Twitter. A further search of Cavanagh’s laptop and a cellphone surfaced almost 1,500 images and nine videos of child pornography.
According to the facts, Cavanagh used Twitter to lure children into sending him child pornography.
He also used the social media platform to send images and videos of his genitalia to minors, court heard.
Cavanagh returns to court May 3, when his lawyer will argue the mandatory minimum sentence.