PEI·NewThe former substitute teacher was first charged last summer and pleaded guilty in April in relation to an incident that happened in 2024 at Glen Stewart Primary School in the town of Stratford, just east of the P.E.I. capital. Charlottetown parent, child changed minds after originally declining police interviewNicola MacLeod · CBC News · Posted: Jul 11, 2025 3:49 PM EDT | Last Updated: 35 minutes agoWest Kent Elementary School was the scene of allegations involving Matthew Craswell in June 2023. (Jane Robertson/CBC)WARNING: This story contains disturbing descriptions of child sex abuse. Resources and supports for anyone who has experienced sexual violence can be found at the bottom of this story.A former P.E.I. substitute teacher who pleaded guilty to sexually touching a primary school student in a classroom is now facing a new charge over a different incident at West Kent Elementary School in Charlottetown.Matthew Craswell was first charged last summer and pleaded guilty in April in relation to an incident that happened in 2024 at Glen Stewart Primary School in the town of Stratford, just east of the P.E.I. capital. In the weeks that followed, CBC News uncovered more details about a similar incident at West Kent in 2023 — including the fact that one child’s parent believed police had been told about the complaint when they hadn’t. On Friday, Charlottetown Police Det.-Sgt. Darren MacDougall confirmed that Craswell had been charged Thursday over that incident, which allegedly took place on June 26, 2023.’Anything like this, that impacts the community the way that a charge like this does, it requires exceptional diligence,’ says Det.-Sgt. Darren MacDougall of the Charlottetown Police. (Nicola MacLeod/CBC)”Anything like this, that impacts the community the way that a charge like this does, it requires exceptional diligence, I would say, for the comfort of the community and for many other reasons,” MacDougall told CBC News.”This particular file certainly has hit home with a lot of people in our community.”Parent, victim changed their mindsCraswell is newly charged with one count of sexual interference, which is the sexual touching of a person under the age of 16. That’s the same crime to which he pleaded guilty in April in connection with the Glen Stewart incident. The same day, he separately pleaded guilty to three unrelated child pornography charges. Craswell has not yet appeared in court on the new charge. He has not entered a plea, and the allegation has not been proven in court.However, an agreed statement of facts filed with the P.E.I. court when Craswell’s previous charges were being dealt with makes reference to a second incident, in a section about his online activity and how he boasted about his crimes. “During one conversation, [Craswell] alludes to sexually touching three other girls while teaching them,” said the document. “This matter was investigated and the children’s parents ultimately declined to allow them to participate in police interviews.”West Kent parent thought school reported 2023 incident to police; investigators were never calledCharlottetown Police say a parent visited their headquarters in August of 2024 looking for an update on the investigation into a substitute teacher who allegedly improperly touched her child. But nobody from the school or the Public Schools Branch had reported the allegations to police. CBC’s Nicola MacLeod has the story.MacDougall said police did end up interviewing one alleged victim after Craswell’s crimes made headlines this spring. “The evidence that we collected supported the charge that’s now before the courts,” he said. The police official said the new charge involves only one victim, but other charges could be laid if other alleged victims come forward and supporting evidence is available.Schools did not go to police in 2023 or 2024Parents of children in both the 2023 West Kent and 2024 Glen Stewart incidents took their concerns to the respective schools after their children told them about the touching. In both cases, the Public Schools Branch internally investigated the incidents — which it said involved reports of touching on the arms and stomach — and concluded they were not sexual. Police and Child Protection Services were not called at the time. The registrar who oversees teacher and substitute teacher licensing and discipline in the province also recently told a legislative committee he first learned about complaints involving Craswell through August 2024 media reports about his child pornography charges. Substitute teacher’s sexual touching in classroom ‘should not have happened,’ P.E.I. Premier says The premier of Prince Edward Island is apologizing after a former substitute teacher pleaded guilty to sexually touching a young student. Rob Lantz committed to reviewing the Public Schools Branch’s reporting procedures for situations like these. CBC’s Nicola MacLeod explains.The PSB initially said the incidents were never connected within that organization because the branch didn’t have an internal tracking system for staff complaints. It later came out that a senior official with the Public Schools Branch did know about both incidents and no longer works there for that reason.Police in touch with school and PSBWhen MacDougall was asked if he had been in touch with West Kent and the PSB throughout this more recent investigation, he replied that he had.”All organizations that I’ve been involved with in this investigation have been very co-operative with us,” he said.Craswell will make his first appearance on the new charge in August.He is currently in jail and undergoing a sexual deviancy assessment in connection with the charges to which he’s already pleaded guilty. That matter will be back before the court in September.There are resources and supports available to anyone who has experienced sexual violence: Victim Services P.E.I. / Queens and Kings County: 902-368-4582; Prince County: 902-888-8218 Rise P.E.I. / Phone or text: 902-218-6143 P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre / Call: 902-368-8055 or 1-888-368-8055 Here is a list of sexual assault centres, crisis lines and support services elsewhere in Canada. ABOUT THE AUTHORNicola is a reporter and producer for CBC News in Prince Edward Island. She regularly covers the criminal justice system and also hosted the CBC podcast Good Question P.E.I. She grew up on the Island and is a graduate of St. Thomas University’s journalism program. Got a story? Email nicola.macleod@cbc.caNicola MacLeod on X
New charge laid against Matthew Craswell over 2023 incident at West Kent Elementary
