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A B.C. teacher has received a lifetime ban for starting a relationship with a minor using an online dating site, even though he knew the student in question was “vulnerable” and likely went to school in his district.
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In a consent resolution agreement posted online Tuesday, the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation said the unnamed high school teacher went on to develop an “inappropriately close relationship” with the student, who didn’t know the man was a teacher.
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The teacher admits in the agreement to the relationship, which included exchanging photos with the student; meeting the student alone, including in a vehicle; and discusing personal information that “included discussing sexual activity.”
The teacher also paid the student to perform some work for him.
The man, who received his teaching certificate in 2013, was suspended after the relationship came to light in March 2019. The commissioner then launched an investigation that led to a permanent ban on working in the kindergarten to Grade 12 system in either public or alternative schools in B.C.
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He admits in the signed agreement his behaviour amounted to “professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming” under sections of the Professional Standards for B.C. Educators, and agreed to the cancellation of his teaching certificate.
The commissioner determined a lifetime ban was the correct punishment based on the inappropriate relationship with a student who was a “vulnerable minor”; that he failed to maintain appropriate boundaries with a minor in a way that undermines public confidence in educators; and that he tried to interfere with the district’s investigation by “lying or causing others to lie on his behalf.”
The name of the teacher and school district in which he worked were not listed in the statement due to provisions of B.C.’s Teachers Act designed “to protect the identity of students who were harmed, abused or exploited by the teacher.”
jruttle@postmedia.com
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