Unjustly accused: Teacher's suicide a sad tale to the end

David Dewees died an innocent man.

Maybe that's reason enough to take one's own life – there will never be a finding of guilt on the criminal charges brought against the apparently well-liked Jarvis Collegiate teacher.

But was it guilt of another kind, shame and self-loathing, that made the 32-year-old lie down on the tracks at High Park subway station Saturday morning rather than face trial?

Such a sad tale all around and now students and colleagues, to say nothing of Dewees' family, will have to deal with the consequences. That's also the aftermath of suicide: Anger, a need to cast or shirk blame, questions without answers and the taint of cowardliness.

It is a moot issue, whether suicide is an act of cowardice or courage. Police won't confirm details on the incident, as a matter of policy on suicides. But if Dewees really did lie prone on the rails and wait for an oncoming train to mangle his body, condemning himself to those moments of terrifying anticipation, then he embraced a worse comeuppance than any retribution the courts could impose. This was a ritualistic punishment, a self-mutilation.

At the same time, Dewees shunted the guilt to others: any victim who lodged a complaint, cops who investigated his alleged crimes and laid the charges, the media for publishing his name.

Our law affords no protection from libel to the dead. So we will assume by his actions, and for the purpose of exploring this awful event, that Dewees was guilty as charged; that the Grade 10 English and Latin teacher and volunteer camp counsellor did indeed invite sexual touching – as opposed to actual touching – from boys, luring them on the Internet. Police said he'd been removed from his counselling post at the Christian-based Ontario Pioneer Camp in Port Sydney, Ont., after the emails surfaced.

He was charged on Thursday, out on $25,000 bail.

The Star, it must be acknowledged, got the charges wrong in a Friday digest item that said Dewees had been charged with sexually assaulting two 13-year-olds. There was no assault alleged by police. The distinction is important though it's doubtful – this too can never be ascertained – such an error (corrected) had much impact on Dewees' state of mind.

More: http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/705372

Unjustly accused: Teacher's suicide a sad tale to the end

Unjustly accused: Teacher's suicide a sad tale to the end

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