Ashbury teachers found guilty of professional misconduct

CTV Ottawa: Ashbury teachers found guilty CTV's Kate Eggins on the findings of an internal review regarding a sexual assault cover-up.

Two teachers at Ottawa’s elite private school Ashbury College, have been found guilty of professional misconduct for covering up a sexual assault against a student on a field trip to Boston in 2007.

The teachers, Alyssa Novick and Ian Middleton were supervising a group of history students on a trip to Boston, when a 16-year-old student was sexually assaulted.

The family of the victim claims the school and the two teachers did not deal with the victim appropriately, and did not contact Boston police immediately.

The Ontario College of Teachers’ posted the guilty verdict on its website February 28, 2014.

The reasons behind the decision will be released later. A spokesperson for the College of Teachers says there will also be a separate hearing on the penalties Novick and Middleton will face.

Ashbury continued to support the teachers even after the Ontario College found them guilty of misconduct. In a statement, Norman Southward, the head of the school wrote:

“Ashbury is both surprised and disappointed with the findings recently released by the Ontario College of Teachers”.

The teachers involved are experienced professionals who have excellent reputations amongst the administration, the staff, the hundreds of students they have taught—and continue to teach—and the families of those students. Despite enormous stress they have been under throughout this process that has lasted seven years, the teachers have continued to perform their jobs in a professional and superior manner.”

Middleton and Novick remain teachers at the school.