B.C. teacher receives lifetime ban after being convicted of sexually exploiting student
Credit to Author: Scott Brown| Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 18:01:59 +0000
A B.C. teacher has received a lifetime ban from teaching after being convicted of the sexual exploitation of a student.
According to a ruling by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, the teacher attended parties with students and was photographed drinking alcohol with them while employed by a B.C. school district in 2016.
The teacher, who had just received his teaching certificate that same year, also exchanged inappropriate and sexualized text messages with a 17-year old student, referred to as “Student A” in the ruling, who attended his school.
The teacher admitted to having a sexual relationship with Student A.
The names of the teacher and the school district were both withheld from the commissioner’s ruling.
The commissioner initiated an investigation in May 2017 after learning the teacher, who resigned from the school district on Nov. 11, 2016, had been charged with two counts each of sexual assault and sexual exploitation.
The teacher was convicted of one count of sexual exploitation in February 2018.
In March of this year, the teacher received a 15-month conditional sentence, two years probation, and was ordered to be entered into the National Sex Offender Registry for a period of 10 years.
Following the sentencing, the teacher entered a consent resolution agreement with the commissioner in which they admitted to professional misconduct. It was agreed that the teacher would never be able to apply for — or be issued — a certificate of qualification, an independent school teaching certificate or a letter of permission to teach in B.C.
The commissioner ruled the lifetime ban was appropriate considering the teacher’s criminal misconduct and pattern of boundary violations.