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Six of the eight students that were expelled from St. Michael’s College School in Toronto were arrested on Monday.
Toronto Police confirmed that five of them turned themselves in alongside their parents or lawyers, while the sixth was arrested on the way to school.
Now, they all face charges of assault, gang sexual assault and sexual assault with a weapon in connection to an incident that allegedly took place on campus and was recorded.
"We have reason to believe there are more incidents and more videos," said Insp. Dominic Sinopoli in a news conference.
According to police sources, the alleged assault was a locker room incident the involved a group of students on the football team.
The students supposedly pinned down the victim and sexually assaulted him with a broom handle.
On Monday, Sinopoli said the victim of the alleged sexual assault was doing okay and “has gotten the support he needs and deserves.”
The school has come under fire for failing to promptly report the alleged crimes to police and authorities were only dispatched the school after the media reported about the students’ suspensions on Wednesday.
Originally, the school said it had informed police of the reported sexual assault and another assault incident, but principal Greg Reeves admitted that wasn’t true during a series of interviews on Sunday.
He told reporters that he didn’t report the alleged sexual assault last Monday because the victim had not yet told his family about the incident.
The situation could escalate, as Sinopoli says there’s another case of sexual assault and two more cases of assault that police are looking into.
"More than 50 witnesses have been identified and more information comes to us daily," Sinopoli said. "We also know there are several videos being circulated. We are in possession of these videos."
He also called on students that are in possession of the alleged sexual assault video to delete it immediately, as the clip constituted child pornography.
With files from the Canadian Press.
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