Source: ‘Untrue, contrived, and unworthy of belief’: Police failed to verify ‘fabricated’ sex assault claim against GTA teacher’s aide, judge rules
Date Published: January 28, 2024
Author: Wendy Gillis
A Toronto area teacher’s aide aide has been acquitted of sexual assault, 16 months after she was falsely accused by an elementary school student who had a history of “violence, falsehood … and behavioural disturbance” according to Peter Tetley who was the judge overseeing the matter. The judge continued that investigators failed to verify the student’s allegation that he and the teacher’s aide had unprotected intercourse during the school day. In his ruling, the judge continued that “seemingly self-evident investigative initiatives were not pursued” by police to verify the facts of the case.
In 2022 the student alleged that the female teacher’s aide had sexually assaulted him in June of 2018 during a break in the school day. The boy claimed that he locked the door before the two had unprotected sex in a room beside a classroom.
With only the student’s account of the alleged incident, the 36-year-old female teacher’s aide was quickly arrested and charged with the Durham investigators showing a “seeming unwillingness… to question the veracity of the complaint” the judge wrote. The boy provided multiple statements in regards to the investigation and investigators failed to iron out the inconsistencies within the various statements. The boy gave various accounts which included discrepancies regarding the date of the sexual assault, the clothes worn, details of the room, and if he had discussed the sexual assault with anyone else.
As a result of the sexual assault charges being laid, the accused lost her job with the school board, and she was subject to a Children’s Aid Society investigation that for a time, prohibited her from seeing her own children. Additionally, the news of the sexual assault charges was published in major media outlets where she was named. As a result, she said she “couldn’t leave her home without feeling like people were judging me,” In addition to the personal impacts she experienced, she expressed concern for other educators who are similarly vulnerable.
Unfortunately, false sexual assault allegations do occur. One must ask “why were the police hesitant to dive deeper and question the allegations?”. Simply being charged with a criminal offence is a punishment–one that many innocents have been forced to endure. Even if acquitted, the court process is traumatizing.
One would hope that police would have the confidence needed to not pursue allegations without a sufficient evidentiary foundation.
Gillis, W. (2024, Jan 28). ‘Untrue, contrived, and unworthy of belief’: Police failed to verify ‘fabricated’ sex assault claim against GTA teacher’s aide, judge rules. Toronto Star.