XStudentFeb 5th, 2006 - 17:45:20

Actually:
1. John Aimers was a full time English Teacher, Debating Coach and Homeroom Head in the mid 70's.
2. To gain our trust he would first invite 3 to 5 7th grade boys (ages between 12 - 13) over to his apartment for tutoring. Then he served us alcohol & Marijuana and play rock music. Then after a few months of repeated gatherings you'd arrive one afternoon and be the only boy, he'd get you drunk & stoned, play a sex video, and proceed to sexually assult you.
3. The school knew about his dealings and kicked him out(and some students who'd become drug addicts) in 1978. However, like the Catholic Church, they allowed him to resign without charges and gave him a glowing reference.
4. He went on to teach at Appleby College, a select school in Ontario.
5. It took me only 30 minutes of Google searches & 1 email to a former Appleby student I found on a Web Blog to find a boy who like me (and the others at Selwyn House) who was also assulted... Say tuned for a new court action against him & Appleby gets filed...
6. Interesting the same pattern is repeated after a few years and he gets shuffled off to Toronto French School, a select school in Toronto where he currntly teaches 7th graders.
7. Also interesting is how the Headmaster at all three schools who hired him is the same man who also seems to be getting shuffled around... Alexis Troubetzkoy.

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M.S.Feb 5th, 2006 - 18:48:41

I went to Appleby College in the early 80's and had John Aimers as a teacher. He was clearly a gay man who liked the company of young boys. I vividly recall him inviting select boys (good friends of mine) to his apartment (which was on campus) and giving them alcohol. One boy confided in me that Aimers gave him alcohol and hugged him inappropriately, so he left the apartment feeling creeped out. This news did not surprise me at all. A few years ago, there was another sexual molestation case at Appleby which focused on a music teacher, Mr. Turnbull. When I first heard there was a molestation case back then, my very first reaction was 'was it Aimers?' because that guy was creepy.

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anonFeb 8th, 2006 - 02:59:56

I am currently a student at the Toronto French School, and I find it incredibly hard to believe that Mr. Aimers would do anything of that sort. He has always portrayed himself as a very proper pompous man, and he does not strike as the type to do something absolutely that stupid. A man is innocent until proven guilty.
My school looks very deeply into people's backgrounds before employing them. If the accusations were true, why didn't anyone speak up before. Any 7th grader should be smart enough to do the right thing. There is absolutely no point in suing 25 years later!

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appleby alumFeb 8th, 2006 - 05:52:14

Oh, anon, how naive you are. Someone only has a record if they have been caught and charged. Looking into someone's background means nothing. Nothing. It is so common of these types of schools to silently dismiss these teachers so as not to draw negative attention. Imagine paying upward of $20,000 a year for some pervert to grope and who knows what else your child. Young boys aren't going to announce that they were in sexual contact with a male teacher - this is just not the way it works psychologically - especially 25 years ago. Mr. Aimers certainly is a pompous man and I'm sure he likes to think of himself as proper. So he's a proper, pompous child molester. It was common knowledge that Mr. Aimers would have boys over for drinking, porn and the like. I would hope he's smartened up by now, but I would think probably not. He's gotten away with it for years. In any case he's ruined hundreds of lives. These schools are doing these boys and men the ultimate disservice in keeping quiet. They need to get some balls and put this scum behind bars to rot.

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The DudeFeb 8th, 2006 - 19:58:50

I knew Aimers at TFS a few years back, and he did invite 'select boys' back to his place. It was always for a legitimate purpose, like preparing for a debate etc... When I was there he never offered anyone booze or tried anything, but it was always in the back of our minds. In fact we would crack a lot of jokes about it. No wife, never talked about women, never had any female students around, it didn't take a rocket scientest to know he liked being around boys. I remember him as being a nice guy, but way to interested in his students. I can't say I was shocked when I saw the article in the paper.

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Powell's ManFeb 8th, 2006 - 20:09:14

M.S. and Appleby Alum - bullshit. I don't believe that either of you guys went to Appleby. First of all, Aimers wasn't there in the 'early 80's' - he was teaching at SJR in Winnipeg at that point. Secondly, 'hundreds of young men and boys whose lives have been ruined'? Where do you get that from? There is exactly one unsubstantiated allegation from Selwyn House and zero from Appleby. I lived in Powell's while Aimers was Housemaster, one year just three doors down from his apartment and I never saw or heard a thing that would suggest that anything like this had ever happened. I guess being single and a conservative eccentric automatically makes you a child molester? If he was a diddler, then Aimers was also an idiot because Powell's was mostly made of 16 to 18 year old guys, most of whom were more than capable of defending themselves or had girlfriends to keep themselves occupied anyway.

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InterestedFeb 9th, 2006 - 01:01:24

Actually, he did teach at AC in the 80's and into the 90's. Here is his bio and teaching history:

John Lathrop Aimers (born in Dublin, Ireland in 1951) is co-founder and the current Dominion Chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada. He is an educator by profession and was a debating coach and part-time teacher of English at Toronto French School from 1998 until 2006 when he was suspended from his position with pay as the result of a civil lawsuit alleging that Aimers had sexually assaulted one of his students in the 1970s[1][2]. He has also taught at Selwyn House School in Montreal (1974-1978), St. John's-Ravenscourt School in Winnipeg (1980-1983), Appleby College in Oakville, Ontario (1983-1991), and in the United States at the Allen-Stevenson School in Manhattan (1992-1993) and the Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut (1993-1994).

In my opinion it's not looking good for 'ol Aimers......he has really moved around alot don't ya think??!!

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DrellaFeb 9th, 2006 - 02:00:51

John Aimers was my debate coach at Appleby for the one year I was there (1985-86). There were lots of rumours, and everyone assumed he was gay, but just for the record, I was never aware of anything illegal or disturbing going on.

I should stress that I was one of his 'prize pupils', exactly the sort of kid who would have been a prime target for his activities if these allegations are correct. I went on several long-distance road trips for debate meets, including overnight stays. I also spent a lot of time one-on-one with him. He never touched me, made any attempt to touch me, or made any suggestive remarks, and I never saw him do or say anything of the kind to any other student.

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X DebaterFeb 9th, 2006 - 03:58:14

I knew John Aimers for three years at TFS and was in a number of one on one situations with him. While he was far from a politically correct personality, I never experienced or witnessed any sexual misconduct. As a student he took an interst in me and helped me out a great deal. I had a good relationship with him while I was a student, and thought he was a good debating coach. I also never heard any rumours while I was at TFS.

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DrellaFeb 9th, 2006 - 08:18:33

Incidentally, with regard to M.S.'s reference to the Brian Turnbull case; all charges against Turnbull were dropped in 1997.

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