Ontario Provincial Police have laid charges in connection with the death of a 15-year-old Toronto boy who drowned in Algonquin Park's Big Trout Lake last summer.
Jeremiah Perry had been on a field trip with 31 other students from C.W. Jefferys Collegiate when he was reported missing July 4, 2017. His body was found the next day.
Provincial police spokeswoman Const. Catherine Yarmel says the accused was responsible for co-ordinating the canoe trip on which Perry died and taught at the high school the teen attended at the time of his death.
The Toronto District School Board later revealed Perry was one of 15 students who had failed a mandatory swimming test prior to the field trip. The school board changed its policy to ensure that school principals, parents, and students themselves know whether they have passed or failed required tests prior to the field trip taking place.
54-year-old Nicholas Mills is charged with one count of criminal negligence causing death.
He's scheduled to make a court appearance on Sept. 11.
The TDSB has issued the following statement:
Today’s criminal charges limit what we can comment on, however we can say that we hold Jeremiah’s family in our thoughts at this difficult time and we will continue to support them in any way we can. We remain deeply troubled by our findings released last summer that critical safety requirements, such as passing a swim test, do not appear to have been followed by the lead teacher supervising the trip. Despite this, we have already strengthened our checks and balances to ensure something similar can never happen again, including:
- Ensuring all future trips of this kind will be approved only after the Principal of the school sees and reviews documentation showing that only those students who passed the appropriate test will be going on the trip.
- All students participating in a pre-trip canoe/swim test will be given the results of this test.
- All parents of children taking part in future trips that include swimming and/or canoeing will receive and acknowledge their child’s canoe/swim test results prior to the trip. They will know that if their child is going on a trip, they have passed the test.
Throughout the investigation, we have cooperated with police and we will continue to do, as well as with the Crown Attorney’s office. The TDSB can now resume its internal investigation, which was suspended last year at the direction of the OPP. In the meantime, Nicholas Mills remains on home assignment, where he has been since Jeremiah’s tragic death.
with files from CTV News and the Canadian Press.