Parents and students both past and present at St. Matthew High School in Orléans are calling for a full investigation into past allegations against teacher Rick Watkins that they say were ignored or swept under the rug by school administrators.

Watkins, who recently changed his name from Rick Despatie after the Ottawa Catholic School Board found out about the police investigation, faces three counts each of sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual exploitation stemming from allegations involving girls under the age of 14 between the fall of 2020 and March of this year.

The Ottawa Police Service’s sexual assault and child abuse unit began investigating the allegations last month. Watkins, 57, has been teaching at St. Matthew High School, where he was also the former head coach of the junior girls basketball team, for more than 25 years. He mainly taught Grade 7/8 math. He also coached the school's girls hockey team and is the director of the Canadian Hockey Academy.

Watkins was suspended by the Ottawa Catholic School Board when the allegations first came to light on March 9, but many former students and their parents are wondering why it has taken so long.

According to several Facebook threads, including one on the Convent Glen - Orléans Wood Community Association Facebook page, a number of complaints regarding Watkins's alleged conduct had been brought to the attention of the school's principals dating back several years.

One thread on the Facebook page Crime Spotting Orléans contained 236 comments as of the time this article was written. Most of the posts claim Watkins allegedly bullied male students and allegedly behaved inappropriately around female students. The earliest allegations of inappropriate behaviour go back as far as the late 90s.

Several parents of former students who had Watkins as a teacher say they brought up his alleged behaviour to a number of past principals as recently as 2019.

The posts allege numerous issues of serious concern and were posted by former students and parents of former students. Here is just a sample...

"He was awful. He was a bully. If you spoke up for yourself you would get suspended or he would just treat you worse....I've never had a teacher who made me feel so small. He always favored the girls on the sports teams. I'm not shocked."

"He belittled my son as well. My son was doing both Grade 8 and Grade 9 math for the accelerated program. We encouraged him to get help from his teacher. The teacher told him since you are such a smart kid teach yourself and figure it out. He gave my son very very low grades to which we had to bring it to the VP. She spoke to him and my son at least didn't fail but he went from getting 98 in a class to 60 and it sent my son into a depression and was suicidal. No where near what these girls are going through but he was awful with the boys too. He called him names and made fun of him. So happy he has finally been caught. My son came upstairs last night cheering that karma finally got him."

Beyond the police investigation into Watkin's alleged offences, a number of parents are calling on the Ministry of Education to launch a thorough investigation into how a series of principals at St. Matthew High School allegedly failed to look into their complaints against Watkins, then known as Rick Despatie.

"The school needs to answer to why they did not do anything," writes one parent. "Schools need to stop dismissing this stuff and boards need to stop shuffling these teachers around."

The Ottawa Police Service Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit is asking anyone with information related to the charges against Rick Watkins, aka Rick Despatie, to call at 613-236-1222, extension 5944. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 or at crimestoppers.ca.

It must be emphasized, that at the time this article was written, none of the allegations against Mr. Watkins have been substantiated in a court of law. As our readers must be aware,  Mr. Watkins and the officials at St. Matthew High School, including past and current administrators as well as the Ottawa Catholic School Board, are presumed to be innocent, or not in breach of their respective duties, until proven otherwise in a court of law.