PETERBOROUGH-The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board has confirmed a staff member at St Joseph CES in Douro is facing serious criminal charges but is clarifying that a second teacher with the same name is in no way involved in the situation.
“PVNCCDSB also employs another teacher by the name of Chris Murray Cavanagh who works at St. Martin CES in Ennismore.” Galen Eagle, Communications Manager PVNCCDSB told Kawartha 411 News. “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.”
On November 24 the OPP arrested a Selwyn resident after a search warrant was executed at his residence. Police say multiple electronic devices were seized for analysis. As a result of this investigation, Thomas Christopher Cavanagh, 46-years-old, was arrested and charged with the following Criminal Code offences:
- Transmitting sexually explicit material to a child contrary to section 171.1(1)b;
- Making child pornography contrary to section 163.1(2);
- Distribution of child pornography contrary to section 163.1(3);
- Possession of child pornography contrary to section 163.1(4) – three counts; and,
- Luring a child for a sexual purpose contrary to section 172.1(1)a – five counts
“Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board can confirm that police have charged a member of our staff, St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School Douro teacher Christopher Tom Cavanagh, with serious criminal charges.” said Eagle. “The charges do not involve students at St. Joseph CES Douro.”
Cavanagh has been removed from all Board workplaces and prohibited from any interactions with students indefinitely according to Eagle.
The Board says it will be making available mental health support at St. Joseph CES Douro should any student require any additional support as a result of this situation.
“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 the police on this matter fully. The matter is now before the courts, which means we cannot provide any further information about the nature of the charges or the ongoing police investigation.”
