Toronto teacher gets bail in child exploitation case
Alex Pierson & Ryan Cripps, Global News: Friday, October 2, 2009
David Dewees, 32, of Toronto, has been charged with two counts of luring and two counts of invitation to sexual touching.
A Toronto high school teacher has been released on bail after being charged in a child exploitation investigation.
32-year-old David Dewees, a teacher at Jarvis Collegiate Institute, was released on $25,000 bail and must reside with his parents in their west-end home.
He is also not to use a computer and must stay away from areas with children.
Popular among students, Dewees was arrested Thursday morning at his west-end home as he left for school.
A teacher at Jarvis Collegiate since 2003, he is also a volunteer counsellor at Ontario Pioneer Camp, a christian-based camp in Huntsville.
It's alleged that, at the camp, he had an inappropriate email relationship with two boys under the age of 16 between 2008 and 2009.
Global News has learned a second person, a youth pastor at the camp, also faces sex-related charges in a completely separate incident.
Garth Bent, 49, of Acton is charged with assaulting a 14-year-old in 1982. He was charged in 2008 and is in court later this month.
Officials with the camp say the incident with Bent didn't happen on camp grounds, nor did they have involvement with the investigation as he only volunteered for a week. The more recent case came to their attention in August when the 2 victims came forward.
"We take this very seriously," said Gerry Rodman, President of Inter-Varsity Fellowship. "Dave Dewees had a fresh police check, and a fresh interview with references. We believe we've done the right thing with this case."
Dewees once commented in a student article on teacher crushes in the school paper, the "Jarvis Jargon". In it, he talks about the precautions and professionalism teachers and students must maintain when it comes to interaction. For now, he has been ordered to stay away from those under 18 and has also been suspended from his job.
His next court date is October 15.
Alex Pierson & Ryan Cripps, Global News: Friday, October 2, 2009
David Dewees, 32, of Toronto, has been charged with two counts of luring and two counts of invitation to sexual touching.A Toronto high school teacher has been released on bail after being charged in a child exploitation investigation.
32-year-old David Dewees, a teacher at Jarvis Collegiate Institute, was released on $25,000 bail and must reside with his parents in their west-end home.
He is also not to use a computer and must stay away from areas with children.
Popular among students, Dewees was arrested Thursday morning at his west-end home as he left for school.
A teacher at Jarvis Collegiate since 2003, he is also a volunteer counsellor at Ontario Pioneer Camp, a christian-based camp in Huntsville.
It's alleged that, at the camp, he had an inappropriate email relationship with two boys under the age of 16 between 2008 and 2009.
Global News has learned a second person, a youth pastor at the camp, also faces sex-related charges in a completely separate incident.
Garth Bent, 49, of Acton is charged with assaulting a 14-year-old in 1982. He was charged in 2008 and is in court later this month.
Officials with the camp say the incident with Bent didn't happen on camp grounds, nor did they have involvement with the investigation as he only volunteered for a week. The more recent case came to their attention in August when the 2 victims came forward.
"We take this very seriously," said Gerry Rodman, President of Inter-Varsity Fellowship. "Dave Dewees had a fresh police check, and a fresh interview with references. We believe we've done the right thing with this case."
Dewees once commented in a student article on teacher crushes in the school paper, the "Jarvis Jargon". In it, he talks about the precautions and professionalism teachers and students must maintain when it comes to interaction. For now, he has been ordered to stay away from those under 18 and has also been suspended from his job.
His next court date is October 15.
