A Selwyn Township, Ont., man who is employed as a teacher at St. Joseph’s Catholic Elementary School in Douro is faces child pornography and luring charges following an investigation.
As part of an investigation, members of the OPP’s child sexual exploitation unit and Peterborough County officers executed a search warrant at a residence on Thursday.
Police say multiple electronic devices were seized for analysis. One person was also arrested.
Christopher Thomas Cavanagh, 46, of Selwyn Township, was arrested and charged with three counts of possession of child pornography, five counts of luring a child for a sexual purpose and one count each of transmitting sexually explicit material to a child, making child pornography and distribution of child pornography.
Cavanagh is a Grade 4 teacher at the Douro school. In a message issued to parents and guardians issued Thursday, the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board says “the charges do not involve students at our school.”
“We understand that this information will be very concerning for students and parents,” the message states. “In all things, the safety of our students is foremost in our minds. We take all allegations of staff misconduct very seriously and we will cooperate with police on this matter fully.”
The board states since the case is before the courts, Cavanagh has been removed from all board workplaces and is prohibited from any interactions with students indefinitely.
OPP say he was held in custody and was scheduled to make a court appearance later Thursday.
The school board also employs another teacher by the name of Chris Murray Cavanagh who works at St. Martin Catholic Elementary School in Ennismore.
“We want to emphatically state that Chris Murray Cavanagh, Grade 4 teacher at St. Martin CES in Ennismore, has nothing to do with the charges or any involvement in this situation,” the board stated.