A teacher in Ottawa, Canada was suspended for two days following an incident where she allegedly confined a Grade 8 student in a locker for approximately two minutes, CBC News reported Tuesday.
The event, caught on surveillance, occurred in 2020 during lunch when the 12-year-old student of Collège catholique Franco-Ouest was demonstrating to friends he could fit inside his locker. According to the boy, the teacher instructed him to re-enter the locker, subsequently closed the door, and held it shut, according to CBC News.
“I was afraid,” the 12-year-old said, CBC reported. “She was doing stuff such as banging on the locker door and there were talks about doing this every lunch and doing this for five or ten minutes and getting a lock, so I was very afraid of those things becoming a reality.”
Nearly three years post-incident, the student’s family continues to advocate for the teacher’s relocation to another school. The Ottawa Police Service acknowledged the occurrence as an assault but did not press charges, the outlet noted. (RELATED: Mom Says It Took 20 Days To Find Out Teacher Was Under Investigation For Allegedly Abusing Her Special Needs Son)
“She understood the warning about her actions and stated she did so in jest,” the police said in a report, per CBC. “She does realize that it was unprofessional and inappropriate in the school setting.”
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The school board conducted an internal investigation, resulting in the teacher’s two-day suspension. Additionally, the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) investigated, leading t0 a memorandum of agreement with the teacher, specifics of which were not disclosed to the family, CBC reported.
Efforts by the family to initiate a private prosecution were halted when the Crown — the state’s representation in legal matters in Canada — requested a stay of proceedings on September 20, 2023, the outlet noted.
The boy’s father has filed a new complaint with the OCT, citing the teacher had been in close proximity to his son multiple times, contrary to the conditions of a limited contact. The teacher remains employed at Collège catholique Franco-Ouest, as confirmed by the current school year’s personnel list, the report states.
