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Ontario Provincial Police have laid criminal harassment-related charges against three teens from around Cornwall, Ont., saying a teenage girl was bullied online and encouraged to kill herself.
Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry OPP said the investigation began after the parents of the girl who was targeted brought a report of a historic criminal harassment earlier in March.
Police then found evidence reaching back as far as June 2021.
Two 14-year-old girls, one from Cornwall and one from the nearby township of South Glengarry, have been charged with counselling suicide with no loss of life and criminal harassment. One of the girls is also charged with uttering threats and mischief.
A 16-year-old Cornwall boy has also been charged with mischief. Their names are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
OPP Const. Serge Duguay said the counselling suicide charge carries a sentence of up to 14 years in jail, regardless of the outcome of the offence.
Duguay said the girl who was targeted sought professional help.
He said this is the first time in his 20-year policing career that he’s seen such a charge.
“I was speechless. It’s sad to see and hear that bullying is still an ongoing problem today, especially with teens. That some think it’s okay to harass someone or to bully someone to the point that their mental health is affected,” he said.
Case a reminder to take bullying seriously, expert says
Gayle Browne, clinical director of service programs at Kids Help Phone, said a case like this actually represents far more cases of bullying harassment that don’t result in a criminal investigation.
“Most of these situation are never going to see the light of day…People feel ashamed. People don’t want to share these experiences with the world,” she said.
WATCH | Steps people can take against online harassment:
Gayle Browne, clinical director of service programs at Kids Help Phone, says bridging the gap between what parents know and what kids are experiencing online is key in putting a stop to online harassment.
Browne, who has previously worked as a front-line counsellor at that service, said ongoing harassment that chips away at a person’s self-worth is the norm, especially online.
She said this case is a reminder for adults to take bullying seriously.
“Remember when people are using the word bullying they can be talking about some pretty serious behaviours with some pretty serious consequences,” Browne said.
Tracy Vaillancourt, a professor and Canada Research Chair in School-Based Mental Health and Violence Prevention at the University of Ottawa, said cyberbullying is more closely associated with suicidal ideas than traditional bullying.
Vaillancourt said online bullying can create the impression that there’s more support for the perpetrator, with people piling on with comments which can contribute to paranoia for the targeted person.
She said these patterns of harassment typically last six months or more and she wants to encourage young people to get help earlier.
“I wish children and youth contacted us earlier because we actually can help them, we can make their lives better, we can get this to stop.”
Need help? Here are some mental health resources:
