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Discipline Panel DecisionsPanels of the Discipline Committee have ordered summaries of recent disciplinary cases to be published in Professionally Speaking. Member: Manuel De Jesus Zarate Crespin A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on June 9, 2004 into allegations of professional misconduct against Manuel De Jesus Zarate Crespin, also known as Manuel Zarate, who was certified to teach in 2000 and employed by the Halton District School Board. Zarate did not attend the hearing and was not represented by counsel. Zarate faced eight allegations of professional misconduct related to sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. In the absence of the member, the chair of the panel entered a plea of not guilty on Zarate's behalf. The panel received court documents in evidence that in July 2003 Zarate was found guilty of sexual assault. According to court documents, in January 2002, the 33-year-old Zarate communicated with a 13-year-old girl on the Internet, posing as an 18-year-old male. Zarate arranged to meet her, drove her to a motel in Mississauga and sexually assaulted her. The panel found Zarate guilty of professional misconduct and ordered his Certificates of Qualification and Registration revoked. The panel also ordered that he not be allowed to reapply for membership in the College for 10 years. The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register. Member: Brian Francis English A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on September 15, 2004 into allegations of professional misconduct against Brian Francis English. English was certified to teach in 1982 and was employed by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. English did not attend the hearing and was not represented by counsel. English faced nine allegations of professional misconduct related to signing a document containing a false statement that concealed a conviction for sexual assault of a minor. In the absence of the member, the chair of the panel entered a plea of not guilty on English's behalf. The panel heard that in 1989 the member applied for a teaching position with the Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic Separate School Board and answered "no" to the question of whether he had ever been convicted of any criminal offence. A board official testified that in 2003, because of a change in legislation, all employees of the board were subjected to a criminal records check. The board received information from the Ontario Provincial Police that English had been convicted of indecent assault of a 12-year-old boy in Newfoundland in 1975. The member did not refute the information when presented with it by the board. The board subsequently terminated English's employment and informed the College. The panel found English guilty of professional misconduct and ordered his Certificates of Qualification and Registration be revoked. The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register. Member: Daniel Marcellini A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on September 15 and 16, 2004 into allegations of professional misconduct against Daniel Marcellini. Marcellini was certified to teach in 1998 and was employed by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. Marcellini did not attend the hearing and was not represented by counsel. Marcellini faced seven allegations of professional misconduct related to sexual touching and other inappropriate behaviour involving elementary-level students. In the absence of the member, the chair of the panel entered a plea of not guilty on Marcellini's behalf. The panel was told that the member had not responded to previous communications from the College. He had requested an adjournment but had not followed appropriate procedures, although he was aware of them. The member's current whereabouts were unknown to the College. The panel cited the interests of public safety and the seriousness of the allegations as reasons for denying the member's request for an adjournment. Four witnesses appeared before the panel - a supervisor of the Children's Aid Society of Hamilton and three officials of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. Witnesses told the panel of their part in an investigation of Marcellini's behaviour after receiving expressions of concern from a parent. The panel heard that during the 2001-2002 school year Marcellini behaved inappropriately with nine male and female elementary students. The behaviours included:
The Children's Aid Society supervisor told the panel that she discovered that the member had been the subject of a previous investigation in which it was concluded the Marcellini had been involved in inappropriate touching of a nine-year-old boy. The panel found the member guilty of professional misconduct and ordered his Certificates of Qualification and Registration be revoked. The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register. |
