An teacher is facing a criminal charge in the 2017 drowning death of a 15-year-old high school student.
Provincial police spokeswoman Const. Catherine Yarmel says the man was responsible for co-ordinating the canoe trip on which Jeremiah Perry died and taught at the high school the teen attended at the time of his death.
Perry was on a school trip with other students from C.W. Jeffreys Collegiate when he went for an evening swim and disappeared underwater in early July.
The Toronto District School Board said weeks later that Perry was among 15 of 32 students on the trip who had not passed a mandatory swim test and apologized to the teen's family.
Yarmel says 54-year-old Nicholas Mills of Caledon is facing a charge of criminal negligence causing death.
The TDSB has released a statement on the criminal charges against a teacher related to Jeremiah Perry's death: pic.twitter.com/mbWRQDyIxU
— NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) July 26, 2018
Perry's father, Joshua Cameron, has released a statement on the charge:
Just over a year ago, at approximately 8 pm on July 4, 2017, I received phone call from a member of the Toronto District School Board that is every parent's worst nightmare.
I was told that my son, Jeremiah, had gone missing from his school trip in Algonquin Park and is believed to have drowned. Since that moment my family and I have been living in a constant state of shock and sadness.
This last year has felt like an eternity for my family and I, but we understand that it takes time to fully investigate a tragedy like this.
We understand the O.P.P.'s investigation to have been very thorough and have been in regular contact with them over the last year.
We are relieved that the investigation has resulted in criminal charges being laid against the teacher who organized and lead Jeremiah's trip. We believe these charges are warranted under the circumstances.
Although nothing that happens now can bring back Jeremiah or take away the pain of losing him, we hope that having the case proceed through the criminal justice system will be one important step in ensuring that a tragedy like this never happens again on a school trip.