Michael Deeb at a special London Police Services Board meeting, December 21, 2017. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News)Michael Deeb at a special London Police Services Board meeting, December 21, 2017. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News)
London

Oversight Agency Asked To Investigate Police Board Vice-Chair

Allegations of sexual harassment against a member of the London Police Services Board have led the board into "uncharted territory" as it asks an independent oversight agency to investigate the claims.

In a special board meeting held Thursday morning, a motion was passed to ask the Ontario Civilian Police Commission (OCPC) to investigate the allegations made against vice-chair Michael Deeb by local teacher and poet Najwa Zebian.

"The information that came to our attention through publications is serious," said Board Chair Jeannette Eberhard. "The board took those allegations, and I would underscore that they are allegations, very seriously and the board as you can see responded very quickly... We considered this with some due process today with legal counsel. We want the public to know that the board, upon hearing information that gave us pause about the conduct of one of our members, acted swiftly and decisively."

The unanimous decision to refer to the OCPC came after a two hour closed door discussion involving the board and its legal counsel. Deeb voluntarily recused himself from the meeting. However, he will continue to serve on the board unless the OCPC decides to launch an investigation, at which time Deeb would be forced to step aside.

Zebian, a teacher with the Thames Valley District School Board, made the accusations against Deeb, a principal at H.B. Beal Secondary School, in a Facebook post on Monday. She stated that Deeb abused his powerful position when she was launching her teaching career, pursued a personal relationship with her, and borrowed money from her. The timeline of the alleged harassment is unclear but appears to date back to 2013.

"There was imbalance of age, power, responsibility, maturity and understanding of boundaries," Zebian wrote.

In the lengthy post, Zebian also admitted to "developing a strong emotional attachment and dependency" of Deeb over time, even handwriting him a "deeply emotional" letter that she now feels shame about.

The 27-year-old has a strong social media presence with roughly 679,000 followers on Instagram.

While the board expects to formally make its request for an investigation to the OCPC Thursday, it is not known when the agency will respond.

"This is uncharted territory for us so I am really not sure how long it will take for us to receive a response [from the OCPC]," said Eberhard.

There are indications the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) conducted an external investigation into Zebian's allegations against Deeb, but the results were not made public.

"While TVDSB encourages transparency in all practices, the process of investigating harassment is conducted in a confidential manner. The results of an investigation are shared with parties involved in a complaint, however, TVDSB does not comment publicly on personnel matters," said Human Resources Superintendent Lynne Griffith-Jones in a general statement about investigations conducted after a complaint is filed. "If the investigation finds evidence of harassment, TVDSB takes appropriate punitive action, which may include dismissal."

Blackburn News has reached out to Deeb's lawyer for comment but at the time of publication has not received a response.

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