'Emotionally immature' B.C. teacher sentenced to jail time for relationship with student
Credit to Author: Lora Grindlay| Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2020 22:16:25 +0000
KELOWNA — Disgraced teacher Bradley Furman was sentenced Tuesday to 38 months in jail for having sex with an underage girl and maintaining the illicit relationship even after he was arrested.
Hands trembling, Furman, 30, sobbed slightly as he was sentenced for the sexual exploitation of a Grade 12 student at Mount Boucherie Senior Secondary in West Kelowna.
“He failed in his duty as a teacher to nurture and protect someone whose parents had entrusted to him to care for,” Judge Clarke Burnett said. “Instead, he exploited her for his personal satisfaction.”
Furman’s actions tarnished the teaching profession and called out for a sentence that expressed society’s denunciation for his actions in initiating a sexual relationship with a vulnerable 17-year-old girl, Burnett said.
The girl has suffered depression and had suicidal thoughts because of the sexual exploitation, Burnett said. She was also estranged for a time from her family.
The total sentence of 38 months broke down as 20 months for sexual exploitation and 18 months for what Burnett said was Furman’s “immediate and repeated” violations of nine court orders aimed at preventing him from contacting his victim after his arrest in May 2018.
“The courts’ orders must be respected, as it is a serious affront to the justice system when they are not,” Burnett said.
Including credit for time served in custody, Furman will remain in federal prison for an additional 27 months.
Crown prosecutor David Grabavac had asked for a total sentence of 71 months or nearly six years. Defence lawyer Claire Hatcher suggested a sentence of between 24 and 36 months.
The judge said a sentence of 38 months was in line with those given to teachers who had committed similar crimes of sexual exploitation involving students that also involved breaches of court orders.
In passing sentence, Burnett said he considered aggravating factors such as the 11-year age difference between Furman and his victim, the breach of trust, the fact many of the sexual encounters took place in a portable classroom before school began, and the girl’s vulnerability.
Mitigating factors, Burnett said, included Furman having pleaded guilty to the charges and in so doing sparing the victim from testifying, his apparent remorse, and what the judge said was the relatively low likelihood that Furman would reoffend after release from prison.
Furman is himself a graduate of Mount Boucherie Secondary, completing Grade 12 there in 2007. He got his teaching degree in 2012, and first met his future victim while teaching at middle school.
Court heard evidence from a psychologist that Furman was emotionally immature and more comfortable with young people than other adults.
In spring 2018, Furman and the girl developed a close relationship initially based on their prior acquaintance and a shared interest in gaming, but their conversations escalated to a sexual nature and then proceeded to sex.
School authorities were concerned one day when Furman twice got the girl out of other classes and the pair were observed walking close together down a hallway.
Questioned, the girl immediately provided details of her relationship with Furman but said it was a consensual matter and expressed concern for Furman’s career. Although the pair exchanged thousands of messages after Furman’s arrest, and also maintained a sexual relationship, the girl later understood how she had been victimized by Furman, the judge said.
In one victim-impact statement, read earlier in court, the girl wrote: “I thought I loved him so I was prepared to do whatever he needed.”
In another victim statement, also read in court, she wrote as if addressing Furman directly: “Maybe in time I will forgive you. For now, I hate you … You had ahold of me. But I am pleased to say the hold is no more. You are a sick, twisted human being, and will be the lowest of the low in jail. They’ll take care of you, I’m sure.”
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