A Toronto teacher facing four sex-related charges stemming from work he did as a camp counselor has been released on bail.

Toronto police allege the teacher befriended two boys under the age of 16 at the Ontario Pioneer Camp in Port Sydney and had inappropriate contact with them over the Internet between July 2008 and July 2009.

The teacher had been a volunteer at the Christian camp, which is located southwest of Huntsville, since 1997.

The teacher has been released on $25,000 bail and can't go near children. As part of his bail conditions, he also isn't allowed online.

"He can't have any devices that will log him online, so cell phones are not allowed either," CTV Toronto's Reshmi Nair reported Friday.

Police are now looking through a camera and a computer for any evidence of additional victims, Nair added.

The alleged victims are not Toronto residents and did not go to the school were the teacher works, police said.

David Dewees, 32, faces two counts of invitation to sexual touching and two counts of luring. He is to appear in court on Friday.

Police say Dewees uses the following online names and email addresses:

  • yukon16
  • yukonlovestherapids@hotmail.com
  • davedewees@tricolourqueensu.ca
  • Yukon@pioneeramp.ca
  • david.dewees@sympatico.ca

Det. Bill McGarry said police are interested in knowing if anyone has had contact with a person using those identities.

Dewees has worked teaching Latin and English to Grade 10 students at Jarvis Collegiate since 2003. "As of today, he was still employed as a teacher," McGarry said.

"We're releasing this information today because Mr. Dewees has the capacity, in his employment and his volunteer activities, to have contact with children as a person of trust or authority," he said.

Students at Jarvis Collegiate told CTV Toronto they were surprised by the news, saying they found Dewees to be a nice, friendly man. One said she never thought something like this would happen.

The school sent a letter emphasizing that the charges did not involve the school or its students.

"It's upsetting, it's unfortunate, but as I said, we always have to keep our key ideas of supporting kids," said Elizabeth Addo, the school's principal.