Quebec education minister, Montreal school board order investigations into alleged sex abuse by coaches

Not only criminal proceedings but some outside investigations will probe the alleged sexual abuse by three basketball coaches at a Montreal-area high school.

On Monday, the school board that oversees the Ville-Saint-Laurent said it had hired an outside firm to investigate.

Later in the day, Quebec's education minister also wrote on Twitter that he'd ordered an investigation at the ministry.

"Following the revelations about the work climate at Saint-Laurent high school in Montreal, I asked for an investigation by the Ministry of Education to be launched," wrote Education Minister Jean-François Roberge.

"Students and school staff need to feel confident and safe in our schools."

The three school coaches were charged with sexual assault and other sex offences last week, all of them related to their jobs at the École Secondaire Saint-Laurent in Montreal’s Saint-Laurent borough.

All were part of the school’s girls basketball program and were arrested at the school last Wednesday.

The accused are Robert Luu, 31, Charles-Xavier Boislard, 43, and Daniel Lacasse, 43.

In a news release issued late Monday afternoon, the Centre des services scolaires Marguerite-Bourgeoys (CSSMB) said it was “very concerned” about the allegations.

It also said the allegations were “contradictory” to information provided to the school, but did not provide specific details about what it meant.

“An external firm has been mandated to establish an accurate picture of the work climate and to shed light on these reported events,” the school board said in the release.

The announcement comes after one of the accused, Boislard, was released on bail while the other two are waiting to set a date for their own bail hearings.

Media coverage since last week alleged that aside from the sexual abuse charges, the school was a dysfunctional work environment where staff had tried to bring up problems with the coaches before, only to feel ignored.

Daniel Lacasse, 43, who’s facing one count of invitation to sexual touching of a minor between 2010 and 2012, will return to court on Feb. 10.

Co-accused Robert Luu, 31, will return to court on Tuesday. He is facing two counts of sexual touching and one count of sexual assault, but on a different alleged victim, this time between 2014 and 2017.

The school board said it would take action if the external firm makes recommendations after its probe into the matter. It also said a team of experts has been deployed to support students and staff immediately after the arrests were made.

“The CSSMB community will always be encouraged to speak out to the appropriate authorities," the board said. "To this end, the CSSMB remains in communication with the SPVM.”