Grade 8 teacher accused of sexual offenses against students released on bail again

CBC News has learned that an Ontario school teacher accused of multiple sex crimes involving students has been released on bail again after being arrested again for allegedly violating her bail conditions.

Kelly-Anne Jennings is on unpaid leave from her job as an eighth-grade teacher at St. Patrick’s Catholic Elementary School. Anthony in Port Hope, Ontario, because she was charged with 18 sexual offenses, including sexual assault of a boy under 14 years of age.

Court records accessed by CBC show Jennings, 40, is charged with both creating child pornography and distributing sexually explicit material to minors. It is alleged that all offenses occurred between June 2022 and April 2024 in Port Hope, Northumberland County, east of Toronto.

Port Hope Police Insp. Katie Andrews told CBC that Jennings spent five days in custody after her last arrest on Oct. 24 on suspicion of failing to comply with a release order.

According to police, Jennings was found to have violated a prior bail condition that prohibited her from attending places where children might be present, such as a public park or swimming pool.

Andrews said a court in Cobourg, Ont., released the defendant from custody on additional conditions in late October. According to Andrews, Jennings can now attend places where children are believed to be present, as long as her own children and a guarantor are present.

Officers were seen outside Peterborough, Ontario. a video shared with CBC News listed the house as the address of Kelly-Anne Jennings. (Sent with name and surname hidden)

Kicked out of school

Steven O’Sullivan, director of education for the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board, previously told CBC the teacher had been employed at the school since 2016. After the first arrest, Jennings was placed on administrative leave and barred from visiting the jurisdiction board or interacting with students, O’Sullivan said.

“There is no access to our facilities or students at this time,” school board spokesman Galen Eagle said in an email Wednesday.

Court records list four minors as alleged victims, whose identities are subject to a publication ban. In September, police said there may be more victims.

Jennings was first charged in August after a student told his mother that he had allegedly touched a teacher during a class trip. The mother notified police the week of August 21.

SEE: Teacher accused of sexual assault

Police later said three more complainants came forward, leading to further charges.

Port Hope police said the Grade 8 teacher communicated with her alleged victims through social media platforms, including Snapchat. Interviews with complainants and witnesses raised “a lot of red flags”, a senior officer said.

Cellphone footage recently released to CBC appears to show at least five officers arriving at a home in Peterborough, Ont., listed in the indictments as Jennings’ home.

Her lawyer, Paul Socka, previously declined to comment on the case and did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Jennings is scheduled to return to court in Cobourg in December. The allegations against her were not proven in court.