'Hoping this gives women the bravery to call': London woman one of 10 complainants against former St. Thomas music teacher
A London, Ont. woman is coming forward as one of nearly a dozen alleged victims of a former music teacher.
“People need to know, and this needs to be talked about,” said the 28-year-old who was a teenager when she visited a St. Thomas, Ont. studio between 2009 and 2011.
A court order prevents the woman from being identified.
“When I heard about the charges a year ago, I was surprised,” she said.
Eugene Francois operated a music studio at 323 Talbot Street in St. Thomas, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)
In 2021, St. Thomas police arrested Eugene Francois on several charges including human trafficking.
“For the last year, the investigators with the Criminal Investigations Branch (CIB) have continued on with this investigation and combed over copious amounts of data that was seized during a search warrant last year,” said Staff Sgt. Kyle Johnstone of the St. Thomas Police Service (STPS).
“As a result of reviewing that data, several unidentified victims have now been identified to us and the detectives are endeavoring to try and determine who those people might be,” he added.
On Monday, St. Thomas police revealed they had laid an additional 16 charges against Francois that include voyeurism, making child pornography and possession of child pornography.
“It was determined that he had a music studio within the city and he was inviting people over to partake in music,” said Johnstone. “He was surreptitiously video recording them without their knowledge.”
The St. Thomas Police Service is asking anyone who visited a music studio at 323 Talbot St. in St. Thomas between 2009 and 2011 to call them. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)None of the allegations have yet been proven in court.
Francois remains in police custody at this time.
The STPS is looking for anyone who visited the studio between 2009 and 2021. They are being asked to contact CIB to determine any additional victims from within that time period.
“I am hoping this report and what the police put out gives any woman or girl the bravery that they need to call,” the alleged victim said.
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