OISE Professor accused of pedophilia-related crimes to have preliminary hearing in two weeks

There hasn't been much information in the news about the upcoming trial of Ben Levin, the former Ontario Deputy Minister of Education under Kathleen Wynne who was indicted for numerous child pornography and other offenses involving minors.

But one of the detectives involved with the case confirmed for me today that Levin, who at the time of his arrest was a Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing starting on Wednesday, November 26 at the courthouse at 1000 Finch Avenue West in Toronto.

Levin's preliminary hearing is expected to last three days, at which time the court will hear a great deal of evidence about his alleged involvement in procuring child pornography and allegations about his arranging to commit sexual assault, as was described in his indictment. The judge at the hearing will determine if the evidence presented merits the next step of proceeding to trial.

For those familiar with the environment and culture guiding the institution where Levin was a professor, that someone of such high standing there would be in such a predicament comes as less than a total shock. OISE is the same place that, only a few short weeks after Levin's arrest, co-sponsored a symposium for teachers of young children where the keynote speaker postulated, without genuine scientific evidence, that adult sexual attraction to children is a natural phenomenon.

Considering that culture, the crimes of which Levin stand accused seem to be a natural, logical progression.

Regardless of the outcome of the Levin trial, hopefully the focus will shift to what bizarre, inappropriate dogmas are being taught at OISE. We need to be careful to determine whether that place responsible for the education of our children's educators is actually a place from which our children need protection.