Bishop Mcnally Teacher Formally Charged with Sexual Assault of Student

By Lucie Edwardson
Metro
May 31, 2017

http://www.metronews.ca/news/calgary/2017/05/31/bishop-mcnally-teacher-formally-charged-with-sexual-assault.html

Staff Sgt. Dominic Mayhew said there is no statute of limitations when it comes to reporting a sexual crime.

A Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) teacher has been formally charged after an alleged decade-old sexual relationship with a student.

Staff Sgt. Dominic Mayhew, of the Calgary Police Service (CPS) child abuse unit, said Edwin Cay Arias, 45, is charged with sexual assault and sexual contact with a youth by a person in a position of trust or authority.

Mayhew said the investigation began in January after a woman—who is now in her 20s— came forward to police to inform them she’d been in a relationship with a teacher while she’d attended Bishop McNally High School in the city’s northeast between 2007 and 2009.

Officials from the Calgary Catholic School District said Calgary police informed them of the investigation in January of this year.

Because of the historical nature of the allegations, police told the school board that students were not currently under any threat. The teacher remained at the school until May 31, when the investigation was made public and the school told the teacher not to return to class.

The school board is currently in the process of suspending Arias with pay until the case has made its way through the court system.

Bishop McNally High School is located in the northeast community of Falconridge.

"For students, staff, district, we're saddened, shocked and disappointed," said Tania Van Brunt, communications director at Calgary Catholic. "I don't think there's any other way to put it. It's a terribly unfortunate incident and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim's family and the family of the individual being charged."

Van Brunt said school resources have been dedicated to helping students, staff and parents as they navigate through the situation.

The teacher has worked at Bishop McNally since 2005, and has been an employee of the district for 14 years.

Van Brunt stressed all teachers go through a criminal background check and once a year attend a mandatory seminar about authority and appropriate boundaries with students.

The woman was 16 at the time and Mayhew said the alleged encounters with Arias happened at multiple Calgary residences and at the school.

Mayhew said all victims of sexual crimes process things differently, which could explain why the victim waited so long to report the crime.

“At the time victims feel they're in a position, or comfortable, to report, we encourage that.”

Although the age of consent was 14 in 2007, police said because Arias was in a position of trust and authority when the alleged offences occurred.

“Specifically when it comes to teachers in positions of authority consent is certainly looked at a little bit differently,” said Mayhew. “There are sections of the criminal code that deal with that particular issue and those are the charges that were laid in this case.”

Mayhew said it isn’t believed that there are other victims, but encouraged anyone with information or who believes they’re a victim of a crime to report it to police.

Arias is scheduled to appear in court on June 20.