Police say 9 more Pickering high school students' yearbook bios were altered

Durham Regional Police say the ongoing investigation into the racist message left in Joshua Telemaque's yearbook earlier this week has revealed that at least nine more students at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Pickering had their yearbooks altered without their consent.

In a news release published Friday, police said The West Division Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB) interviewed both students and faculty at the high school this week to try and determine who was responsible for the racist message left in Telemaque's yearbook. 

Throughout the interviews, nine other students said their submitted captions were also changed without their knowledge. 

An investigation into racist and inappropriate content in a high school yearbook continues and nine other students have come forward to say their profiles were also tampered with. https://t.co/dQXyoDNzdz

— Durham Regional Police (@DRPS) October 16, 2020

Just one of these altered captions contained a racist message, according to police, while one female student was criticized for her body image and another student was mocked for his school grades. 

"These nine students were a mixture of female and male, from various cultural backgrounds," said police.

Telemaque's story went viral earlier this week when the high school's yearbooks were handed out and his original message, which was a tribute to his late grandmother, was replaced with a racist message about Harambe, the gorilla that was shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Days later, The Toronto Argonauts and the Pinball Clemons foundation announced that they would be giving Telemaque a four-year scholarship to any Canadian university of his choice. 

The investigation into who is responsible for the vandalized yearbooks, meanwhile, is ongoing and police would like to speak with anyone who may know any information related to the situation.

Police said tipsters may be eligible for a $2,000 cash reward, and anonymous information can be sent to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online.