P.E.I. schools to track complaints after substitute who sexually touched student kept teaching
Province also orders 3rd party to review how Matthew Alan Craswell was able to continue teaching
WARNING: This story contains descriptions of child sex abuse and other content that may be disturbing to readers.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch has implemented a central reporting system to track all complaints regarding staff after it was revealed in court that substitute teacher Matthew Alan Craswell was able to continue working after sexually touching a student at a primary school.
"Formerly, not all incidents were centrally tracked by the Public Schools Branch. We are now tracking any reports of misconduct to monitor for trends or problems," the agency said in a statement to CBC News late Thursday afternoon.
"This tracking mechanism will also be retroactive."
The news comes after guilty pleas were entered by Matthew Alan Craswell, 40, who was first charged last summer with possession and distribution of child pornography after the U.S.-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children flagged his internet activity.
New information came to light during the RCMP investigation, details of which were shared in court Tuesday as Craswell pleaded guilty to four charges related to child sex abuse images and an unrelated incident in which he sexually touched a young girl in a classroom in front of other students at a Stratford primary school.
Court documents indicate school officials were made aware of the primary school incident, but it was not reported to police and Craswell continued to work in schools with older children after the Public Schools Branch was informed. He worked as a substitute teacher on P.E.I. as recently as the spring of 2024.
The PSB's statement contained a detailed outline of how it was dealing with the fallout from the Craswell case and what supports are in place for students, teachers and staff.
Among other things, the statement said:
- "This is a serious situation and we are working with Glen Stewart to ensure students and staff have appropriate resources."
- "All PSB staff have recently participated in training on how to recognize and report inappropriate interactions with students... We will continue to work with the Teachers' Federation to ensure their members have the supports they need, including training."
- "We encourage members of our school communities to report concerns related to student safety to school administrators or through their school's website using 'Report It!', a PSB platform which allows for confidential and prompt handling of concerns."
- "We will advocate that RCMP and police background checks are expanded to include interprovincial and international reports."
- "We will be reviewing our procedures with an aim to restore public confidence with a focus on safeguards that protect our students."
The branch also promised to reach out to parents, and that happened Thursday night in the form of a mass letter from director Tracy Beaulieu.
"Like you, we are deeply upset and concerned about the information that has come out through the legal process involving former substitute teacher, Matthew Craswell. Through the court proceedings, we are learning the whole truth about his horrible actions," it said in part.
"Over the past few days, many parents and guardians of students attending PSB schools have rightly reached out with concerns. We all have every right to be disturbed and heartbroken. Our commitment to you is to ensure our processes are improved to keep your children safe, and to maintain open and transparent communication."
Earlier Thursday, the education department announced it had ordered a third-party review into how Craswell was able to continue working.
"The recommendations from this work will inform how safeguards, policies, procedures, and processes will be strengthened to reduce the risk to student safety within the Island school system," the Department of Education and Early Years said in an email to CBC News.
"The results of the work will be shared through the education system and school communities, and the general public as this matter is of public interest for the entire province."
The email said the review would begin as soon as "logistical elements are confirmed" and would likely take several months.
Online activity, extradition request
The court documents presented Tuesday said Craswell bragged about his sexually abusive behaviour online and counselled like-minded people on how to do the same.
He also wrote about sexually touching three other girls while teaching them. That investigation didn't continue because the girls' parents didn't want their children to be interviewed by police. Few other details of that incident were made public.
Craswell was also subject of an extradition request from South Korea in relation to allegations that he had committed a voyeurism offence when living there in September of 2018.
Craswell would have been required to pass a vulnerable sector check before he began working with the PSB and then every two years after, but RCMP say the allegation from officials in South Korea likely would not have come up.
The federal government did not respond to questions from CBC News on Thursday about whether that information was shared with police on the Island or if it could have come up on a criminal record check.
The issue came up in the legislature again on Thursday, one day after P.E.I.'s premier offered an apology and promised a review.
"First and foremost, I want to say how sorry I am for the victims and everybody that's involved in this," Robin Croucher, the minister responsible for Island schools, said in response to a question from MLA Gordon McNeilly.
"I'm just going to have to repeat what I said: We are doing everything we need to do to figure out where the errors occurred. We're going to work to fix them moving forward now and into the future."
Croucher, who took over the education portfolio in February, also told the legislature the province has implemented mandatory training around preventing sexual abuse for teachers and others who work with kids in the school system.
He said it's just the first step, but one the province introduced earlier this month before the new Craswell details came out in court.
"That certainly didn't fix this situation, it didn't address this situation, but we are going to continue to do the hard work and the things that need to be done to address this situation and to move forward so that we don't have to deal with this ever again."
There are resources and supports available to anyone who has experienced sexual violence:
- Victim Services P.E.I. / Queens and Kings County: 902-368-4582; Prince County: 902-888-8218
- Rise P.E.I. / Phone or text: 902-218-6143
- P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre / Call: 902-368-8055 or 1-888-368-8055
- Here is a list of sexual assault centres, crisis lines and support services elsewhere in Canada.
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With files from CBC's Nicola MacLeod