KILLARNEY — A former Turtle Mountain School Division teacher was sentenced to jail time Tuesday to charges of sexual exploitation of a teenage student dating back to 2010.
The man, whose name has been withheld to protect the identity of the victim, was sentenced by provincial associate chief Judge Donovan Dvorak to six months of jail time and 18 months of supervised probation. He pleaded guilty at an earlier date to one count of sexual exploitation — defined as an act where a person in a position of authority or trust touches or invites a young person to touch them for a sexual purpose.
The facts of the case were outlined during the sentencing. Dvorak pointed out the man was teaching Grade 9 to Grade 12 classes in the rural school division when the crime occurred and had taught the student and mentored her on a project.
The teacher-student relationship turned inappropriate as the then-17-year-old student and 30-year-old man began to meet privately and kissed on several occasions. The student also sent the man a sexually explicit photograph of herself in underwear.
At the time of the crime, the minimum sentence for sexual exploitation was 45 days in jail. The current minimum is one year.
Dvorak sentenced the man to six months after pointing out it is necessary to condemn the behaviour and deter people from committing similar crimes. He added the court must send a message that children are not to be considered as potential sexual partners by persons in a position of trust or authority.
Dvorak said he also had to take into account that the former teacher had pleaded guilty and has not reoffended in the nearly 15 years since the crime happened.
The man was arrested in Brandon in 2021, when he was teaching with the Brandon School Division. He was released on conditions and placed on leave pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.
Along with the jail sentence and probation order, the former teacher was ordered to provide a DNA sample and to have no contact with the former student.
A search of a provincial registry late Wednesday morning showed the man’s teaching certificate, issued in June 2003, was still in “good standing.”
— Brandon Sun