the cw

Youths charged in C.W. Jefferys sex assault case
Updated Wed. Sep. 19 2007 6:24 PM ET

toronto.ctv.ca

Police arrested four youths on Wednesday in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a female student at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute.

Officers carried out a series of pre-dawn raids on Wednesday morning. Police are still searching for two youths in connection with the case.

The identities of the suspects cannot be released due to provisions under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

A three-member safety panel, headed by human rights lawyer Julian Falconer, was formed in response to the shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Manners at the school last May.

While investigating safety issues at the institute, the panel unearthed allegations that a 14-year-old Grade 9 student was allegedly sexually assaulted at the school. The police say these allegations were not previously reported to them.

"These are very serious charges and this is a very serious offence," Supt. Roy Pilkington told CTV News on Wednesday. "We have a young girl who has been scarred to some degree and will have to live with this forever."

The youths have each been charged with:

Forcible confinement;
Gang sexual assault; and
Conspiracy to commit indictable offence.
The suspects were to appear at the Finch Avenue courts on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Toronto District School Board trustees attended a special meeting on Wednesday where they voted to ask the province for more funding for the school safety study.

The study has cost nearly $500,000 so far. The majority of trustees approved asking for an additional $350,000 to extend the panel's work until Dec. 15.

But several trustees argued the dollars can be better spent.

"I don't believe that yet another report, after so many several reports have come forward over the past two years, will get us any closer to preventing kids from getting shot or stabbed at our schools or near our schools," said trustee Josh Matlow.

He points out the province and the city are also conducting a study on safe schools.

But trustee Cathy Dandy sys a more in-depth investigation is crucial.

"This is a significant problem that we've been unable to get at. We know what the stories are, we don't have the data to enforce the issues," Dandy said.

Board chairwoman Sheila Ward also backs the request for a better probe into school violence.

"I think the most irresponsible thing we could do would be to run out and try to impose solutions without having an absolute handle on what the problem is," Ward said.

It may be going into its second season, but people regularly shoot me e-mails asking what the heck is The CW. (The answer, if you're still confused, can be found here and here.) This is a problem no amount of green billboards and digital integrated tomfoolery and bling seem to be able to fix.

Utter the words "America's Next Top Model," though, and everybody knows the score -- it's that Tyra Banks show! With skinny vixens wearing weaves and bikinis! Hawt girl-on-girl backstabbing and stupidity! If The CW's serious about being on the same level as the other networks, they're going to have to rectify that. Either that or announce that the C and the W stand for "catty walk." I mean, between "Top Model," "Beauty and the Geek" and "The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Best Little Whorehouse in Primetime," why not?

Seriously, though, a decent, marketable slate of new series should help matters somewhat and -- though it pains me a tad to admit this -- they've got that this season. If you don't count "Life Is Wild."

One of the networkling's most talked-about new dramas, "Gossip Girl," premieres tonight at 9 on KSTW/11, after the first hour of "America's Next Top Model." The combination should smack The CW's young lady target demo right in its plump-lipped pout.

Plus, this is executive producer Josh Schwartz's other baby on the fall schedule (besides NBC's "Chuck") and to some, it's the heir apparent to "The O.C." Schwartz's fingerprints are all over the dialogue and character setup. There's even a minor fistfight in the season premiere that'll make you misty. Sigh. Remember Ryan's first beat-down at a rich Newport kid's mansion? Those were the days.

But "Gossip Girl" lacks the heart, humor and sweetness that balanced out the soapy happenings on "The O.C." Viewers will find little sunshine glowing in the hearts of the Manhattan prep school teens whose every move is watched and blogged about by Gossip Girl, an anonymous tongue-wagger voiced by Kristen Bell.

These kids are vicious, and blithely resigned to burying their unhappiness in decadent parties and under-age drinking in swanky bars. The popular kids waltz through Gatsbyesque soirees so lush that even their parents get excited about helping their kids prepare for them.

At the same time, "Gossip Girl" is loaded with everything The CW needs to keep viewers from defecting to MTV: betrayal, witty potshots (or what passes for it at a prep school) and a teenaged dandy who somehow manages to pull off a look that hangs on a pretentious silk scarf and get the girls.

Topping the lunch menu in the first episode is the return of Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), an elegant girl with sadness in her eyes, who disappeared to a boarding school for quite a while.

Serena thinks she can fall right back in with her BFF Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), but, uh ... as if! Apparently Serena was hot chick No. 1 when she was around, and quite the party girl, while Blair was relegated to sidekick status. When Serena disappeared, Blair's boyfriend Nate (Chace Crawford) seemed to be all down in the mouth about it. Now her return has made him a little nervous.

Adding intrigue to the mix are two new guys in Serena's orbit, nice boy Dan (Penn Badgley), whose relative lack of family money makes him invisible to most of the school -- his dad Rufus (Matthew Settle) is a has-been rock star! Ew! -- and the devil at our main girl's back, Chuck (Ed Westwick), who looks down his nose at middle-class roaches like Dan and his sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen). But then, so does Serena's class-conscious mother Lily (Kelly Rutherford), a socialite who has a past ... as a rock groupie. (Ew! So less acceptable than diddling Diddy.)

If you happen to be above a certain age, largely ignorant of Cicely von Ziegesar's best-selling novels on which the show is based and mourning the father-son comedy stylings of "The O.C.'s" Seth and Sandy Cohen, the premiere isn't anything to text your pals about. We wouldn't be surprised if parents absolutely hate this thing.

It's also difficult to fathom why viewers would give a rip about any of these characters.

Many of today's adolescents, however, are budding into adulthood with the help of steady feedings of MTV reality soaps and celebrations of materialism like "My Super Sweet 16." They've also had to contend with the new frontiers offered by text messaging, MySpace and Facebook, enabling kids from all rungs of the social spectrum to bully and slag off on their peers without adults ever knowing about it.

The success of "Gossip Girl" books is a symbol of how prevalent this new era in quiet meanspiritedness is in the lives of young people. But while The CW's scripted series fueled by that world, it also injects a modicum of morality into it.

Knowing that won't make the series any more appealing to wider audiences, and Schwartz can't necessarily count on winning over "O.C." viewers. One also has to wonder how a show like this will fare in an era in which teens have made the bright, optimistic and annoyingly upbeat "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2" such phenomena. Most of the "Gossip Girl" kids look like demon spawn in comparison, only not the kind that are fun to watch.

Even so, this teacup Chihuahua isn't going down without getting a few nips in. "Gossip Girl" will probably be a hit for The CW, and even if it isn't The CW has a reputation for sticking with series long after they deserve to be euthanized. (I'm looking in your direction, "One Tree Hill.") People will talk. And that's what really counts.
Oakdale, NY- Ahmadoul Gaye (Dakar, Senegal) scored the lone goal against cross-town rival C.W. Post to lead the Golden Lions to a 1-0 victory over the Pioneers this afternoon. Dowling currently ranked #5 in the nation improves to 6-1 overall and clenches their first conference win for a 1-0 ECC record. The conference loss drops Post to 0-1 and 1-5-1 overall.

With a total of five yellow cards, the Golden Lions and C.W. Post battled on the field for the entire 90 minutes of play. Freshman, Junior Laurencin (St. Lucia) sparked the intensity of the offense as he checked into the game and caused a scramble inside the box. Gaye found an opening and was able to drill the ball past the Pioneers goalkeeper, Ayrton Haddad, to the top left corner of the net with 27:29 remaining in the half for his fifth goal of the season.

Dowling outshot their opponents 13-3 but were unlucky in finding the back of the net in the second half. Rookie, Marcus Come (Gothenburg, Sweden) had back to back opportunities at the net but Haddad came up with a crucial save. In the 80th minute of play, C.W. Post's Julian Escobar was able to slip past the Dowling goalkeeper, Nemanja Veljovic (Belgrade, Serbia), for a chance to knot the score at one but Jamie Underwood (Yeovil, England) was able to strip the ball in the box to prevent the Pioneers from scoring.

Nemanja Veljovic earned his third shutout of the season for a 4-1 record in goal and C.W. Post's, Ayrton Haddad, tallied four saves on the day.

The Golden Lions return to the field as they travel to Westchester this Sunday September 23 for a 1:00 start.

click here to view box score