A lifetime ban was handed to a B.C. high school teacher who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a minor.
In a decision made public on Tuesday, the teacher—whose identity is being withheld to protect the minor involved—was given a permanent ban on getting a license.
According to a summary of the decision by the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, he was suspended by his school district in October 2018 after it was discovered that he had crossed professional boundaries by engaging in “an inappropriately close relationship with a former student.”
“The teacher exploited this relationship to engage in inappropriate sexual contact with Student A,” read the decision. On June 14, 2021, the Teacher pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault towards a young person.
The former B.C. high school teacher hasn’t held a licence since November 2019 when the Teacher’s certificate was cancelled for non-payment of fees.
The teacher entered an agreement to not apply for a certificate of qualification, an independent school teaching certificate or any other authorization to teach in the kindergarten to grade 12 education system.
The consent resolution agreement says the life time ban took into consideration the teacher’s conduct was “very serious misconduct that undermines public
confidence in the education system” which spanned several months with a pattern of persistent violations of professional boundaries and the teacher previously failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with students.
