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St. Catharines educational assistant arrested for assault of young student

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Niagara police have arrested and charged a male educational assistant with the alleged assault of a young student at a St. Catharines school in December.

Detectives from the Child Abuse Unit began investigating the incident on Jan. 10.

The investigation found that on Dec. 17 of last year a child under 9 years of age was involved in a disturbance in a classroom at St. Alfred Catholic Elementary School on Vine Street.

The victim was reportedly physically removed from a classroom by two educational assistants and taken to another room in the school.

According to police the child was then allegedly assaulted with a blanket by one of the educational assistants. The student was not physically injured.

The age and gender of the victim are not being released to protect their identity.

This morning detectives arrested and charged Adam Martynek, 28, of St. Catharines with assault and assault with a weapon.

In a press release Niagara Catholic District School Board said the “alleged incident was reported to Family and Children’s Services by Niagara Catholic staff in accordance with Ministry of Education requirements.”

The board added that it is troubled by the charges and the accused individual was placed on leave at the start of an internal investigation.

“Niagara Catholic will continue to cooperate with Niagara Regional Police throughout their investigation,” it said.

Anyone with information relating to the incident is asked to contact the investigating officers at 905-688-4111, option 3, extension 1008430, or Crime Stoppers of Niagara at 800-222-8477.

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