Female teacher 'everyone loved' arrested for slew of child sex offenses

A 40-year-old female teacher described as someone 'everyone loved' at a Catholic school in Canada is charged with over a dozen child sex offenses.

Kelly-Anne Jennings was charged Wednesday with sexual assault, sexual interference, luring children and possession of child pornography after being arrested weeks earlier on similar counts. 

Police started to investigate Jennings last month after a student at St. Anthony Catholic Elementary School blew the whistle on her.

They said the victim was a student of Jennings when they spoke to authorities. 

Jennings was initially arrested and charged with one count each of sex assault and sexual interference on August 29.

Her arrest prompted at least three more victims to come forward, local police said, and a search warrant was eventually placed.  

Jennings was again arrested at her home in Ontario on September 4 and was charged with 16 more counts on those similar charges against the students, who were only identified as ex-students. 

Parents of current students truly can't stifle their disbelief after the arrests went public.

They described Jennings as a great teacher universally liked within the community before the child sex allegations came out. 

'You just never know. She was a teacher everyone loved,' one anonymous parent told Metroland.

'It's a shocking and a stark reminder that predators can be anyone and can be someone that everyone knows and trusts'. 

'It's a sad reality, but we need to keep the conversation open with our children and that we should be monitoring their devices.' 

Jennings, who taught at the school on a part-time basis in 2008 before taking a full-time position in 2016, was placed on administrative leave.

'We take all allegations of staff misconduct very seriously and board staff have been co-operating fully with the police throughout their investigation,' the school board said in a statement. 

'We know situations like this can be distressing and we want to assure families that additional mental health support will be available.' 

Jennings is currently free after her husband made $10,000 bail.