New sex assault charges laid against Barrhaven teacher

Police have laid new charges against a Barrhaven math teacher already accused of sexually touching and making inappropriate comments toward a former student.

Naoum Abi-Samra, 57, was charged Friday with two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference involving two otherstudents, the Ottawa Police Service said in a news release.

• Naoum Abi-Samra, Ottawa high school teacher, charged with sexual assault
• More sex assault complaints against Barrhaven teacher

Abi-Samra had previously been charged with sexual assault and sexual interference involving a student under the age of 16 at Pierre Savard High School in Barrhaven.

He had been working there since2012, until theConseildescolescatholiquesduCentre-Est(CECCE) suspended him in March when the allegations first came to light.

After police laid the first charges against Abi-Samra, at least six more female students at Pierre SavardHigh School came forward with allegations that they too had been the subject of unwanted touching and inappropriate comments.

The allegations were mentioned in a letter that the school board sent to parents on April 22, three days after Abi-Samra was charged.

In a statement Friday, the CECCE said that the Ottawa Police Service's school resource officer was at Pierre Savard High School, speaking with students "having a hard time understanding the charges against the teacher and whose behaviour is detrimental to the school environment."

Staff at the school are also "receivingthe guidance and resources they need to support students," the board said.

According to Ottawa police, the newcharges stem from incidents that allegedly happened fromSeptember 2013 to January 2014 and from January toMarch 2016.

Ottawa police say there may be more victims, and their investigation continues.