WARNING: This story contains disturbing descriptions of child sexual abuse. You can find resources and support for anyone who has experienced sexual violence at the bottom of this story.
It was believed that two incidents of a substitute teacher who touched students in different PEI primary schools “” was of a non -sexual nature “at that time, said the public school branch of the province in an email on Thursday night.
“These incidents were reported by different primary schools with approximately eight months of difference (June 2023 and April 2024) and occurred during class games. The students involved reported that Craswell touched them in their arms and stomach. After the investigations, and based on the information available at that time, it was believed that these incidents were of a non -sexual nature,” reads the letter of the director of the director of PSB Beaulieu.
“With the new information revealed during judicial procedures, it is now clear that the incidents were of a sexual nature, contrary to what was initially believed.”
The email aimed at all parents and guardians occurs after it was revealed in court this week that the substitute teacher Matthew Alan Crashell continued working after sexually touching a student at Glen Stewart elementary school in Stratford, Pei the documents of the court revealed that Crashell boasted about their sexually abusive behavior online and wrote about the sexual touch of three other girls while teaching them.
The PSB told CBC News that there was no one available for an interview on Friday, and that it was focusing on parents and staff.
According to the declaration of agreed facts, Crashell boasted to touch a girl’s nipples, saying: “I could say that if she was mine or saw her often, as a situation of child care or something, that things would go far and she would be interested in that. While I slow.”
Craswell admitted to touching the child “and that the purpose of that touch was sexual,” according to the documents.
Look | This psychologist has advice if your children ask about the PEI case that involves a substitute teacher
The disturbing details have been emerging from a recent judicial case that involves a substitute teacher who declared himself guilty this week of sexual touching in a PEI elementary school. To help us navigate how to handle conversations about this, especially with young children, CBC News: Compass spoke with a psychologist, Dr. Jacqueline Roche.
‘Disturbed and disconsolate’
CRASWELL, 40, He was first accused last summer With the possession and distribution of child pornography after the National Center for missing and exploited children based in the United States they marked their Internet activity.
New information came to light During the RCMP investigation, whose details were shared in the Court on Tuesday As Crashell declared himself guilty of four charges Related to the images of child sexual abuse and the incident in which a girl in a classroom in front of other students touched sexually.
Judicial documents indicate that school officials realized that incident, but police and Crashell were not informed continued working in schools with older children after the public school branch was informed.
Few details about the June 2023 incident have become public. The PSB confirmed in its letter that it was a school different from the Glen Stewart primary. Multiple sources have told CBC News that took place in a Charlottetown school. The judicial documents indicate that the investigation did not continue because the girls of the girls did not want the police to interview their children.
In his email to the parents on Thursday, the PSB confirmed that Crashell worked from time to time, mainly in the secondary schools, until the end of the 2023-24 school year. He was suspended from teaching in all schools in the province when he was arrested on August 9 for child pornography positions. These positions are not related to the incidents that took place in the PEI schools.
All schools where Crashell worked were contacted after their arrest, according to email, and the PSB is not aware of any other incident.
“Like you, we are deeply upset and concerned about the information that has come out through the legal process that involves the former substitute teacher, Matthew Crashell. Through judicial procedures, we are learning the whole truth about their horrible actions,” says email.
“We all have every right to be disturbed and disconsolate. Our commitment to you is to ensure that our processes are improved to keep your children safe and maintain open and transparent communication.”
Extradition requests considered confidential
Judicial documents also revealed that Crashell was subject to an extradition request from South Korea in relation to accusations that he had committed a crime of voyeurism when he lived there in September 2018.
Crashell would have required a control of the vulnerable sector before starting working with the PSB and then every two years after that. The RCMP has said that the accusation of officials in South Korea would probably have not emerged.
In an email to CBC News on Thursday night, the Federal Justice Department said: “If Canada receives an extradition request from a foreign state, a confidential state communication is considered a state to state, and the Department of Justice would not discuss it unless it is public by a court.”
Look | PEI’s prime minister says that the sexual touch of the substitute teacher in the classroom ‘should not have happened’
Prince Eduardo’s island’s prime minister apologizes after a former substitute teacher declared himself guilty of sexually touching a young student. Rob Lantz promised to review the reporting procedures of the public school branch for situations like these. Nicola Macleod de CBC explains.
It is not clear if this is information that could have arisen in a check of the vulnerable sector completed on the island of Prince Eduardo. Judicial documents show that PEI RCMP had access to this information by preparing a raid order for Cornwall Craswell’s Cornwall House in July 2024.
The PSB said Thursday that it plans to press for the RCMP and other police services to expand the controls of the vulnerable sector to include interprovincial and international records that include, among others, the extradition orders.
“According to what we know now, Matthew Crashell should never have approved his background verification.”
Central monitoring system
On Thursday, the PSB also announced that it had implemented an incident monitoring system of incidents and reports of misconduct in the schools of the island. Previously, there had been no centralized monitoring of the reported incidents.
Nor is it clear if the PSB had connected the June 2023 and April 2024 incidents before Crashell’s pleas this week.
“The schools are destined to be safe spaces for all students to learn, and this situation has shaken the faith of many in our communities that we can fulfill that promise. Each student has the right to a safe environment while learning in our schools. And the fact that even a student was placed in a situation that made them uncomfortable and that was inappropriate, breaks our hearts,” said email.
“Our staff is proud to work with students to help them be well equipped for a successful future in our communities. Change the system takes time, but we will work tirelessly to rebuild their confidence in us to protect, teach and guide their children.”
Look | PEI Premier apologizes after the former substitute declared himself guilty of sexual touches in primary school
Prime Minister Rob Lantz told Pei’s legislature that he was “deeply unfortunate” in response to a question about Matthew Alan Crashell, who worked as a substitute teacher as recently as last year, before being arrested for positions related to images of child sexual abuse and an incident in which she sexually touched a girl in a classroom in front of other students. Observe the legislative exchange, including apologies here.
Crashell’s case emerged in the legislature for the third consecutive day on Friday. Prime Minister Rob Lantz, who assumed the position in February and previously served as Minister of Education as of October 2024, reiterated a promise to initiate independent investigation into how Crashell was allowed to continue teaching.
Lantz said he hoped to disseminate details about the scope of the investigation next week. The province has said that the recommendations of that review would be made public.
The province also announced that it had implemented mandatory training on the prevention of sexual abuse for teachers and others who work with children in the school system last month, before judicial documents were published.
There are resources and support available for anyone who has experienced sexual violence:
