Trial continues for former Kitchener principal who pled guilty to sexual assault and invitation to sexual touching

A former elementary school principal has pleaded guilty to sexual assault and invitation to sexual touching involving students. CTV’s Colton Wiens reports.

A Kitchener man who worked as an elementary school principal is on trial, accused of two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual interference and one count of invitation to sexual touching.

The charges relate to incidents that allegedly happened at Saint John Paul II Catholic Elementary School in Kitchener.

The accused was 58-years-old at the time and had retired from the Waterloo Catholic District School Board, but was serving as a substitute principal for multiple schools.

On Monday, cross examination of the accused continued. Court heard details of three main incidents involving two different students that lead to these charges.

Court heard the accused examined and touched a student’s genitals after the student was hit in the testicles with a tennis ball. The accused testified that he had a former student that suffered testicular torsion and was concerned this student may suffer the same fate. The accused claimed they asked the student to check for swelling, but the student couldn’t do it on their own.

When asked why he didn’t call 911 for help, the accused claimed they wanted to make sure the student would go to the hospital but couldn’t explain why a medical professional was not called.

Court also heard of a separate incident, where the accused was helping a student that got covered in mud while outside. The accused testified he provided the student a change of clothing so the dirty clothes could be cleaned. The accused helped the student into a changeroom, but when the student emerged from a changing stall the accused said the student’s shorts were sitting too low and he pulled on the students shorts out of frustration.

The student earlier testified in court their buttocks was exposed and the accused made a comment and laughed. The accused denied this.

The accused also testified to speaking with a student over an online chat forum, sometimes outside school hours. The accused claimed the student was struggling with changes in their body and acting out at school.

An online conversation shown to court showed the accused saying to the student:

“Just promise me that you are masturbating to release the pressure”

“Hope you find someone to hug lol”

“I’ll start calling you Romeo, lover boy lol”

The accused claimed that was taken out of context and was in response to a similar phrase male students were yelling about masturbation around the school.

The accused testified none of the interactions with the students were for any kind of sexual pleasure.

Before the crown and defence put forward their final submissions Monday afternoon, the accused changed his plea and plead guilty to one count of invitation to sexual touching for the online conversation. He also plead guilty to sexual assault involving the student whose testicles he examined.

The court is still hearing submissions and the trial will continue Wednesday. The defence argues sexual interference shouldn’t apply in this case, because they claim the incidents were not done for sexual pleasure.

The accused has plead guilty to one count of invitation to sexual touching and one count of sexual assault. He still faces another sexual assault charge and two charges of sexual interference.