St. Catharines teacher charged with sexual assault involving student

A 53-year-old teacher is facing multiple sexual assault charges involving a student in St. Catharines.

Niagara region police say in May 2022 they were made aware of allegations that a student was involved with a teacher at St. Catharines Collegiate Secondary School.

The District School Board of Niagara suspended the teacher pending the outcome of the investigation.

Police said in August 2022 they determined they had reasonable and probable grounds to make an arrest, however, the suspect had since left Ontario and relocated to Alberta.

A Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued and with the help of the Calgary Police Service, Lorne John Gocking was arrested and returned to Ontario to face four charges of sexual assault and four charges of sexual exploitation of a young person.

“All charges relate to the involvement of one victim,” Niagara police said in a statement. “Detectives can confirm there has been no information thus far in the investigation that indicates there may be additional victims.”