Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy calls for an independent investigation to shed light on why a teenage girl, who was sexually exploited by a special education teacher, was able to confide in a teacher without there being any feedback.
Véronie Campeau, 41, pleaded guilty Wednesday at the Montreal courthouse to charges of sexual contact with a minor under 16, invitation to sexual touching and sexual exploitation.
For years, she “officially” formed a “couple” with a vulnerable student in a high school in eastern Montreal. “It was known. It was not done on the sly, ”summarized Me Gary Martin, the defendant’s lawyer, in a press scrum on Wednesday.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Véronie Campeau (center, with the white coat) pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges of sexual interference with a minor, invitation to sexual touching and sexual exploitation.
“All looked down”, also indicates a police report.
“Faced with such serious and disturbing facts”, MP Marwah Rizqy asks the Minister of Education Bernard Drainville “to initiate an independent administrative investigation now”.
In her statement to the police, the student notably explained that she confided in May 2014 to a teacher from the Antoine-de-Saint-Exupéry school that she formed a “couple” with Véronie Campeau.
“Did the teacher report this denunciation to the DPJ? To the school administration? If so, how did this denunciation progress, or rather did it not progress? If no report has been made to the DPJ and/or management, why? These questions are very important in order to understand how such a toxic and criminal relationship could last for so long,” wrote Marwah Rizqy in a letter addressed to Minister of Education Bernard Drainville.
The teacher in question did not respond to messages sent by The PressWednesday.
“The victim has shown enormous courage, it is our duty not to let him down a second time,” concludes the official opposition critic for education in his missive to Minister Drainville.
The office of the Minister of Education did not immediately comment on this request for an independent investigation.
“I want to be very clear: that adults, parents, school staff or someone in authority knew the facts and did nothing is troubling and completely unacceptable. The people who know and who do not denounce, are accomplices, ”wrote Minister Drainville in a message sent by his press secretary.
“It is your duty to denounce if you are made aware of stories of abuse or aggression that cause harm to our young people,” he adds.
With Louis-Samuel Perron, The Press
