(CNN) — A Toronto school in the midst of an investigation has arrested three male students in connection with an alleged sexual assault of a girl.
The Osgoode Hall Public School is investigating after three males, including a female, were seen in an assault on a female student, according to a Toronto District School Board statement.
“It appears that the male student who initiated this assault directed the female student, who was with a group of students, away from the group,” the statement said. “When she was visibly upset she turned and ran away.”
The male suspect then caught up with the student, put his hand down her pants and assaulted her, according to the statement.
A fourth male student also witnessed the assault and followed the victim and one of the suspects but did not participate in the assault, the statement said.
After one of the suspects used a belt to intentionally damage the victim’s backpack, the two students moved away from the male.
“Any inappropriate acts committed within the school grounds will not be tolerated and the appropriate measures have been taken,” the statement said.
CNN cannot verify the statements of the TDSB, or a police investigation. The incident has been referred to the force’s sexual assault task force, according to a Toronto Police statement.
According to the school board statement, security conducted the school-based investigation after it was notified about the incident on Wednesday.
“We are extremely disappointed that things like this could happen at our school,” Derek Nichol, the district superintendent for Osgoode Hall Public School, said in the statement. “Anyone who knowingly commits an act which harms another student deserves justice and consequences.”
The school’s principal, Brenda Cassidy, has already been contacted by police.
The three students arrested in the case face a charge of sexual assault and are being held at Millhaven Youth Centre in Kingston, Ontario, TDSB Chief Superintendent Marc Webster said in a statement.
The cases are being handled by the Special Victims Unit of the Toronto Police Service, Webster said.