Two teachers charged in separate sex abuse cases in Webequie First Nation

WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A northwestern Ontario First Nation is shaken after two different teachers were charged with sexual offences against youth in the community, says a parent. 

Both men were charged with sexual assault in Webequie First Nation, months apart in unrelated cases in 2024, according to Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS). Their cases will be before the courts in the coming weeks. 

“Everybody was shocked, devastated,” said Florence Spence who is a local parent and an Ontario Works training co-ordinator at Webequie First Nation. 

Spence said she’s been speaking up at community meetings because more needs to be done to protect Indigenous youth from harm. 

“Nobody’s advocating for them and nobody’s supporting them,” she said.

The community of roughly 800 has a single school. Located 540 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, it’s only accessible by air or seasonal winter road.

The two male teachers working in Webequie First Nation were charged in separate, unrelated incidents, according to NAPS. 

Most recently, Noah John Sisson allegedly sexually assaulted a teenage boy in September 2024, said police.

The 26-year-old teacher is charged with both sexually assaulting someone under 16 years old and inviting sexual touching from someone under 16. He’s also charged with sexual interference, which the Criminal Code defines as touching the body of someone under 16 for a sexual purpose, directly or indirectly. 

A now-removed biography on the school’s website said Sisson worked as an elementary teacher in Webequie and had been coming to the community for over four years. The Ontario College of Teachers confirmed in an email that Sisson was not registered as an Ontario Certified Teacher (OCT). 

Sisson was released on bail with the requirement that he reside at either or both of two specified addresses in Holland Landing, Ont. and Peterborough, Ont. He also has to stay in the presence of his surety at all times. His case is scheduled to be spoken to at the Thunder Bay courthouse in December. The allegations against him have not yet been tested in court. 

CBC News reached out to Sisson through his lawyer, who declined to comment when reached by phone. 

Two teachers charged in separate alleged incidents, say police

In February 2024, a different teacher was also arrested, NAPS said. 

Mohammad P Sobhi was charged with sexual assault and touching a person under the age of 16 for a sexual purpose with his hands and mouth, according to court documents obtained by CBC News. Sobhi, 33, is a resident of the Greater Toronto Area, police said, and he was released on bail.  

His profile is listed on the Ontario College of Teachers website, showing that he is subject to release conditions that include a ban of “any paid or unpaid activity/employment that involves being in a position of trust or authority towards persons under the age of 16 years.”

Sobhi’s case is scheduled to be spoken to at the Thunder Bay courthouse Monday. None of the charges Sobhi is facing have been tested in court.

Sobhi’s lawyer, Igor Vilkhov, said that he plans to plead not guilty. 

“He’s maintaining his innocence and we’re prepared to litigate this in court,” said Vilkhov, a criminal defence lawyer at Vilkhov Law. 

“These are allegations. He’s presumed to be innocent, of course, and it’s going to be tested in court,” he said. 

Vilkhov, who specializes in defending people charged with sexual offences, said he has reviewed evidence and is confident Sobhi will not be found guilty. 

CBC News has reviewed details of the alleged offences as detailed in the courts. It is not including the allegation details in order to protect the privacy of those involved. Publication bans are in place prohibiting the publication of any information that could identify the alleged victims.

Charges opening ‘old pain, past trauma’ 

CBC reached out to Webequie Education Authority, which oversees the sole school on the reserve, but did not receive a response. 

Spence, who is a parent in Webequie, said that these charges have been traumatic for the First Nation.

Many members have been impacted either directly or intergenerationally by abuses in the Indian Residential School and Indian Day School systems, said Spence. 

A significant number of children at residential schools were physically, sexually or psychologically abused in a system described as cultural genocide by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in a 2015 report. 

“We didn’t know what they were doing to us was wrong, because nobody told us a teacher can’t do this to you in a sexual way, and you’re just a kid. A lot of us went through that. A lot of us, like most of us. And nothing was ever done about it until recently,” said Spence.

This historical context compounds the pain of seeing teachers from outside the community charged with sexual assault, Spence said.  

“It opened a lot of triggers, a lot of old pain, past trauma,” she said. 

This makes it hard for a community reckoning with its own trauma to respond to re-traumatizing events like this in real time, said Spence. 

“When you’re traumatized (by) something, you put it away so deeply that you don’t even remember, and it opens up a lot of wounds too, and people just shut down.”

One of the accused was not a certified teacher in Ontario

Hiring teachers from outside the community without provincial certification is part of the problem, said Spence. 

While Sobhi is a certified teacher in Ontario, Sisson is not registered with the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT). CBC was not able to obtain information from the Webequie Education Authority about the number of certified or uncertified teachers at the school.

The Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) sets and enforces professional and ethical standards that all certified teachers must meet, said the college in an email to CBC News. All certified teachers are now required to complete a sexual abuse prevention program. 

There is a public registry of all Ontario Certified Teachers on its website “in the interest of transparency,” said the email. Members of the public can view teacher qualifications, credentials and criminal charges or convictions relevant to their ability to teach.

Non-certified teachers are not required to meet OCT standards or complete the sexual abuse prevention program. They also aren’t displayed on the register. 

Would-be teachers from First Nations face barriers to teacher certification

“We need young people (from Webequie) to get educated so they can have these seats in the future, so they’ll know what to do for their people,” Spence said. 

Hiring teachers who have connections to the communities they work in provides accountability and lived experience, said Denise Baxter, Vice Provost of Indigenous Initiatives at Lakehead University. 

“We bring with us a whole backpack of knowledge and world views and strengths and experiences,” she said. 

“There’s a level of professionalism and a level of trust that comes along with that profession of being a Ontario College of Teachers certified teacher. But if you’re from the community, you’ll also know the values and the social norms and the expectations of the community.”

Baxter, who is a member of Marten Falls First Nation, taught kindergarten in Constance Lake First Nation earlier in her career. 

“That connection you have with kids, that connection with families and communities, really is what changes systems, but also builds trust in an educational system,” said Baxter, who is also Rideau Hall foundation’s National Advisory Committee on Indigenous Teacher Education. 

Indigenous education professionals who want to become certified teachers can face significant barriers to doing so, said Baxter. First Nations often have more applicants for post secondary funding than they can realistically afford to support with the funding they’re given, she said. 

Leaving remote communities is also expensive and challenging for many, who often encounter language and cultural barriers once they make it to the city, said Baxter. Long wait times for childcare in urban centres can also dissuade people from leaving the support of their home communities. 

A new initiative at Lakehead is attempting to change that by helping teachers train in their home communities, Baxter said. A spokesperson for the university said the program was still in the in the approval and accreditation process.

Reducing reliance on a “revolving door” of teachers who are often only in the community for a short time would create more stability for young people, said Baxter. 

“It’s difficult for children to develop trust and caring relationships when the adults in their lives are turning over so quickly,” said Baxter.

“Your children… are your most cherished thing in your life,” she said, “You want to trust that they’re going to be safe.”

Supports for anyone who has been sexually assaulted or who is affected by these reports:

​​If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.

Canada-wide resources: 

• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868. Open 24/7. Free phone and live chat counselling on the website for youth in Canada. 

• Assaulted Women’s Helpline: 1-866-863-0511 for 24/7 free, anonymous crisis counselling, info and support available. 

• Hope for Wellness: 1-855-242-3310 Open 24/7. Provides free phone and live online chat counselling on the website for Indigenous people. Support available in Ojibway (Anishinaabemowin), Cree and Inuktitut upon request. 

Ontario-wide resources:

Northwestern Ontario resources:

Kenora Sexual Assault Centre: Call 1-800-565-6161 for 24/7 crisis line. In-person drop in at the Centre Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.