Front Burner - Decades of sexual abuse at one Ottawa high school

Episode Date: June 10, 2019

Over the course of decades, dozens of students were sexually abused by three different teachers at one Ottawa high school. Some students spoke up and told other teachers. But it wasn't until 2016 that any criminal charges were laid. Senior reporter Julie Ireton has been investigating this story of historical sexual abuse for more than a year, for the new CBC podcast, 'The Band Played On.' Today on Front Burner, she describes what happened to these students, how it was allowed to go on for so long, and what can be done to prevent similar kinds of abuse today.

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There's this high school in an Ottawa suburb. And over the years, it became known mostly for its music program. Parents sent their kids there because of it. It was through this program, though, that a teacher groomed and abused his students, and then his replacement did the exact same thing. Some of the abuse happened in the same secluded back office. Like, that's got to be haunted, that f***ing place.

Do you know what I mean? Like, I don't know why they haven't bulldozed it or whatever, closed it forever. That is a place where innocence was murdered. Around the same time, there was also a basketball coach abusing students too. It seems so hard to believe that this could be so prevalent and go on for so long. But it did, for decades. It's the subject of a new CBC podcast the band played on. Today, my colleague Julie Ireton is here and we're going to talk about Ottawa's Bell High School, where these three teachers abused at least 44 students. This is Frontburner.

Julie, thanks so much for being with me today. Thank you for having me. So I want to start this story with one person featured in your podcast, and this is a man named John Cody. And can you tell me what happened to him when he was just a teenager at Bell High School in Ottawa? Sure. John Cody was a music student and he was there in the late 1970s at Bell High. And music was a passion for him.

That's how it starts. I love that. John was a really smart kid. He had actually skipped a grade in elementary school. But I think that high school bored him. And so I think that the music room was a bit of a refuge for him. He really felt like he could belong there. And the teacher was quite inviting. He was inclusive, is how a lot of people put it.

Right. So for people that don't feel like they belong, it was like a safe space for them. Exactly. You know, the band geeks and Bob Clark, the music teacher was, you know, invited them to come in and, and just spend their lunch hours or after school jamming. Right. So it was an inviting place until it wasn't. So a lot of the victims, including John Cody, talk about this back room at Bell High. It was in a back room in the music department. It's where kids would go to practice or they would do their tests back there. And he remembers being trapped in that back room on various occasions.

I remember the date. I got it down. March 19th, 1979. One incident in particular really has stuck with him and he can when I have this conversation with him he can tell me you know what the teacher was wearing that day he says he remembers the pants he remembers the belt he remembers the shirt I don't remember how I got on my knees do I have to and I seem to remember it was dark but there was no window to outside in that room. You could turn off a light. There were no windows to the outside in his office. And it looks, you know what, honestly it was the perfect setup. I mean he had

control. And he says that that is the incident that sticks out. But there were all kinds of other incidents with this teacher, with Bob Clark, vulgar language he would use in classrooms, the sexual innuendo, he would come ons, propositions. It's like a drunk person that you can't get rid of or that, you know, that's what it feels like. It just feels like he was stalking, constantly lurking and leering. All kinds of stories that were really inappropriate to be sharing with teen boys and girls. And then, of course, there was the sexual abuse too, right? Yeah. So he was basically sexually assaulted in that back room. It was in the 70s. It wouldn't have been, the charge wouldn't have been sexual assault.

It was gross indecency or indecent assault. But today, in today's terms, we would call it sexual assault. So John wasn't the only victim. There were eventually 10 victims that came forward. All boys, teen boys who were abused over the course of a couple of decades in Bob Clark's classrooms. who were abused over the course of a couple of decades in Bob Clark's classrooms. And what more do we know about the extent of the abuse that these boys suffered at the hands of Bob Clark? Well, we know that it often started with grooming and special attention he was giving,

and then it would eventually lead to attention that they didn't want, asking the kids for oral sex or asking to be touched or to touch them. Very often he masturbated in front of the students. There were incidents on band trips. There were several incidents that he would have kids come to his home for either tutoring or to help with yard work or to help with work inside his house. And then he would do something beyond inappropriate, like masturbate in front of them or or ask them to to do things uh to him there were also other incidents in that back music room such as asking uh one of the students if he could take naked photos of him for for better marks wow this is also disturbing I want to talk to you in a moment about how this was allowed to go on for as long as it did.

But first, you know, if this story about Bob Clark wasn't shocking enough, there was another teacher who, am I right to say, replaced Bob Clark as a music teacher, and then also went on to abuse students in the same school? Exactly. So when Bob Clark left the school in 1986, another teacher came along, started teaching music in the same music room at Bell High. And we now know that over the course of his decades, his three decades at Bell High, he groomed and sexually abused three female students that we know of. Sometimes he would walk past me and just flick me on the head with his baton. I was like head over heels. Sounds so silly to say that now because we're talking about a man and a child. But back then I felt, you know, he sees something in me, and I'm worth something.

And it was a very similar pattern where there was grooming and special attention, and then it led to sexualized behavior. We were in his office, and I was leaning up against a filing cabinet with my head on my forearms because I had a terrible headache. And he came up behind me and started to rub my shoulders. And he was very close to me and I felt, you know, his erection against my backside. Both these music teachers were very, very successful. They had award-winning bands. They were very much respected in the community and also respected within the school community, parents and teachers who

really appreciated having an award-winning band that actually attracted students to the school. So am I right to say that the abuse that these students endured over several years, spanning two teachers, they were being abused in the same back room of the school? Yes, same back room of the school. Yes, same back room, which leaves a lot of questions as to, you know, why these back rooms would exist. You know, it's an opportunity that really shouldn't be there. And that's one of the things that several of the victims talk about in the podcast is that there shouldn't be a back room. They'd like to see it bulldozed or broken down

because they just feel like this place is haunted at this stage. Back room, I wanted to brick it up. I want to knock it down. I don't know why they haven't bulldozed it or whatever, closed it forever. It would be very cathartic for us to go in with sledgehammers and get rid of that office because there isn't a need for it. Back rooms should not exist. It's a temptation for anyone who has one, and we hear that they're constantly misused,

and they're still there. And so we've got these two music teachers, but there was also a basketball coach. Right. So Don Grenham was the basketball coach and he was coaching, again, an award winning team. They went to regional finals. And in the end, he had 22 some victims that laid charges against him. And he and Bob Clark worked at Bell High School at the same time. And I know of at least two students who were groomed and abused by both those teachers.

Now, I didn't find any evidence that there was collusion, that they were working together or knowingly sharing victims. But unfortunately, there were a couple of boys that were victimized by both men. We'll be back in a whole new way, where stories are brought to life by powerful performances from renowned actors and narrators. With the free Audible app, you can listen anytime, anywhere, whether you're at home, in the car, or out on a jog. The first 30 days of the Audible membership are free, including a free book. Go to www.audible.ca slash cbc to learn more. Julie, how is it possible that this was allowed to go on for as long as it did, especially when I understand that John himself, he told people about this, right?

Again and again, people knew and did nothing. And there's probably nothing more frustrating to me about life. Absolutely, John told two teachers, but he was not the only one and he wasn't the first one. Other people had told teachers or administrators. People knew. Victims will call it willful blindness, that people just didn't want to

see what was happening. Why are we discussing this 40 years later? It's 40 years. I think others didn't realize the degree to which it was having a huge impact on kids, or they didn't realize the degree of the sexual abuse and assaults that were happening. Teachers, I think that teachers were groomed as well. You know, having spoken to, I think I spoke to 20 or 30 teachers and administrators over the course of the past year, and so many of them didn't suspect anything from these teachers. They were highly respected and had done so many good things for the school that they, you know, they were convinced that these people were not capable of the harm that

they committed on these teens, you know. And getting to know the psychology a little bit about abuse and abuse in schools, I have learned that it is a thing that often adults, the adults around are groomed as well, and they have that respect and so would never suspect anything was going on. That's interesting to hear because you usually hear so much about children being groomed, but to hear also that colleagues were being groomed, it's something I actually hadn't heard until right now. Well, I hadn't either until I started doing this. But it's something that the Canadian Centre for Child Protection has looked closely at.

And they talk about this. And some of the teachers I spoke to were shocked. One in particular said she always sort of suspected something. And this was in the Bob Clark case. And she said she tried to kind of nose around and snoop and, and she just never caught him doing anything. But she said just something about him made her uncomfortable. And she said, if I had seen something, I would have said something. But then I spoke to other teachers who didn't suspect anything. And and

still in in one case, one of the teachers still doesn't think that the music teacher ever did anything. She doesn't, you know, she doesn't believe the victims that came forward. We showed up, we were shocked, we supported him right away. Former vice principals, principals said, when it goes to trial, we'll all be there and be witnesses. It's a whole range of reactions, you know, that I've gotten from them. And then I've also spoken to administrators who really feel that it was a different time. You know, he worked in the 70s and 80s and felt that there was a different level of acceptance of, you know, what you could do and say to kids. And also, it was more difficult, he felt, to push a teacher out.

And also it was more difficult, he felt, to push a teacher out. And so that was, you know, it was sort of a society cultural issue at the time that they didn't know how to correct this behavior. Have there ever been any consequences for what happened? Well, yes. So there were many charges. There were more than 30 charges in 2016. So all at the same time in 2016, around it, within a few months of each other, the three teachers were all charged. But only one went, ended up going to trial because the other two died before their trial. Bob Clark's trial was in March of 2018. And he was given two years for the sexual assault or indecent assault of eight

former students. And then just this past March, Bob Clark pleaded guilty to the charges against John Cody. And you mentioned that the other two teachers, they're both dead. What happened to them? Well, just before Bob Clark went to trial, Don Grenham died in his home of an apparent heart attack. And Tim Stanitz, the music teacher, he actually died in May of 2017. And police sources Has the school board or the school itself responded to all of your reporting? What are they saying now? It was really difficult to get the school board to say much at all when I was doing the investigation. And I worked on this investigation for a year. I put in all kinds of freedom of information requests to the school board to try

and get the files of these teachers, especially Bob Clark, who had been convicted. And it was very difficult to get any information. I was told basically there had been no complaints about these three teachers while they worked at the school. Now, after my investigation was published in November, one of the victims was very angry. He confronted the school board at a public meeting, very angrily saying, you know, why are we getting this information from a CBC reporter? Can we really trust that you have a close, look closely at the details of this case? You know, why haven't you shared this information with us?

And why haven't you contacted us? Why haven't you apologized to us? And it was a very heartfelt, I guess, speech that he gave in front of the school board. We can never forgive what was allowed to happen to us. I'm sure you try to offer a sincere apology, but please do not. The most important part of my statement is this. You are to ensure, past this point, and is now your responsibility, that this will never happen to anyone ever again.

And after he was finished, he was thanked, and then no trustee, nobody with the school board said a thing. I know that must have been difficult. We appreciate it. with the school board said a thing. I know that must have been difficult. We appreciate it. I'd now call for a mover and a seconder to confirm the board minutes of 30th...

Nothing, which was quite shocking. Why do you think that they're so silent on this matter? They're silent because there's perceived legal liability and they had been told by lawyers not to say anything. And it is true, not this individual who went before the board, but some other victims, several other victims actually have launched lawsuits against the Ottawa-Carlton District School Board in these cases. And they were just told, don't say anything to anyone because of this potential and pending legal liability. I know that you mentioned before there were original complainants. And then after you started doing your reporting, several more people came forward.

I believe it's now 44 victims in total across these three teachers that you found. Yes. Through the course of the investigation, I was able to identify in one way or the other through charge sheets or social media, people coming to me and talking. I talked to most of them. I was able to identify 44 victims. Wow. Lawyers for the school board have filed statements of defense in response to all the claims. The board says each of the three teachers was, quote, a model professional educator, respected and admired by students, parents, co-workers, other educators, the extended education community, and the school board, unquote.

and the school board, unquote. The board denies the teachers groomed and abused students, but the board says if such actions did take place, it was without the knowledge of the school board and contrary to the board's policies. Going back to John Cody for a second, can you tell me about the impact this abuse by a teacher had on him? Well, I think it had a profound impact on him. And I think that he really reflects on this now, perhaps more than he did, you know, when the abuse actually happened.

Because he says he really kind of put it at the back of his mind. He did tell teachers at the time. He assumed those teachers would or, you know, were going to do something. But he says, you know, looking back on his life now, he became a singer-songwriter. He wrote with Tom Cochran and Bonnie Raitt, and he's had some successes, quite a few successes in his career. But he says when he was in his late teens and early 20s,

he lived a really wild life in the music industry, drinking way too much. He was very promiscuous. I'm lucky. For that time, I'm lucky I didn't get sick. And he said that he had a very dangerous lifestyle, and he now believes that it stems from the abuse. I wonder a lot about my lack of self-protection. You know, when your innocence is f***ed with and you don't even know what it is, you don't know what you're giving away. You don't know that you're giving away anything. I know that you're talking about these examples of abuse from the 70s and 80s and 90s, which feels like still not that long ago. But I also feel like today I read lots of stories of teachers engaging in sexual activity with students.

And what do we know about how prevalent this issue is today? Well, you do read stories today. It hasn't gone away. And this is something that was really important for me to look at, that this isn't ancient history. And, you know, I went to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection because they're the only organization in this country that's collecting stats on this. And they have found through their collection of data that even in the past 17 months, there's been 108 new cases reported across the country. Now, some of those cases are recent, you know, the sexual abuse happened recently, and some of them are historical, but they've just been reported now.

But regardless, 108 cases in the past 17 months and the majority, they all happened with a school staff member and the majority were teachers. So this is why we need to be aware of it as parents, as staff members, as teachers, as administrators. as staff members, as teachers, as administrators. We have to be aware of what to watch for and how to prevent this and how to intervene if we think that it's happening. So are there any systems that can be put in place to try and avoid what happened at Bell High School? Are there any true lessons that can be learned here? Well, I think that the Ottawa Carleton District School Board in particular has decided that it wants to do something about this and it wants to work on the prevention side

of things. And they did engage the Canadian Centre for Child Protection shortly after my investigation was published last fall, who's come in and they've talked to unions, they've talked to teachers, they've talked to administrators about what's appropriate, what's inappropriate, you know, what you should watch for, when you should intervene. And other people have talked about the fact, well, okay, you can have as many protocols and policies as you want. And we have had a lot of protocols and policies in the past, and yet the abuse still happens. So there has to be proper oversight and a proper understanding. the past and yet the abuse still happens. So there has to be proper oversight and a proper understanding. And I think that's what the center is trying to do is it's trying to tell people what kinds of things to watch for. So one of the examples they gave was a coach who liked to put

his fingers through the kid's ponytails at practice. It seems rather benign. It seems rather harmless, but it's not appropriate and it shouldn't be done. And some people could view that kind of behavior as grooming behavior. And so it's putting those boundaries in place so people understand, you know, what areas you shouldn't cross into. Not necessarily because the person has criminal intentions, but just it's just not appropriate. And we just don't want to have those kind of things going on, you know, in classrooms and on basketball courts and on band trips and that kind of thing. Julie, thank you so much. You're welcome. That's all for today. I'm Jamie Poisson. Thanks for listening to cbc.ca slash podcasts.

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