Eight Students Expelled Following Alleged Sexual Assault With Broomstick

Update: This post has been updated to include new information released by Toronto police Friday afternoon.

Toronto police are investigating a number of incidents of alleged assault and sexual assault at St. Michael's College School and are concerned there are more victims.

Police made the announcement late Friday, after allegations surrounding three incidents, including an alleged sexual assault of a student with a broomstick, surfaced earlier in the week.

The prestigious private all-boys school, a Roman Catholic institution, has expelled eight students in connection with the alleged assaults.

The school has a released a timeline outlining how it became aware of three separate incidents involving its students and the actions it took afterward. The timeline reveals that despite becoming aware of a video depicting a student allegedly being sexually assault on Monday, November 12, the school did not report the video to police until Wednesday.

According to the timeline, the school received two videos on November 12, one which took place in the boys’ washroom and the other in the locker room.

City News, which first reported this story,

viewed the videos and described one as showing a boy being sexually assaulted with a broomstick while naked from the waist down; his legs are being held down by other students. The other video, according to City, shows another boy in a sink in his underwear with water being run over him, as other students slap his bare skin.

Police have described the video of the alleged sexual assault in the locker room as child pornography. The video is being circulated, police said in a news release earlier in the week.

Toronto police have told media they began investigating after reporters contacted them seeking comment on the videos—not as a result of receiving information from St. Mike’s.

The school’s timeline indicates it reported the washroom video to police on Monday, but not the video of the alleged sexual assault in the locker room. It said the school was conducting internal investigations on the alleged sexual assault in the locker room until Wednesday, which is when it informed police. Four students were expelled in connection the the washroom incident, and another four in connection to the alleged sexual assault, the school says.

Administrators were made aware of a third incident on Thursday, which they reported to police, the school says in the timeline. It did not detail the nature of the incident.

While the school did not specify which students were involved in the videos, the timeline says administrators and football coaches met with parents and members of the junior football team on Thursday. Students who spoke to CP24 described the incidents as part of hazing ritual. The school, which serves grades 7-12, has confirmed it has cancelled its junior football season.

As of Friday, an increased police presence remained on campus.

In a statement posted to its website, St. Mike’s said its community is “heartbroken.”

“We understand and share the anger and distress that such horrible acts could happen on our school grounds involving boys in our care. It is unacceptable and falls far short of upholding the principles we strive to live by.”

Police are encouraging anyone with information to contact them.

Follow Manisha Krishnan on Twitter.

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