B.C. teacher banned from profession for life after child pornography conviction

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A former B.C. elementary school teacher convicted of possessing child pornography has been banned from his profession for life.

Graham Christopher Bowering entered into a consent resolution with B.C.'s Commissioner for Teacher Regulation earlier this month, agreeing to the ban and admitting to a series of facts about the criminal case. The document was posted online Tuesday.

"Bowering failed to act ethically and undermined the credibility of the teaching profession by violating laws that protect children from sexual exploitation," the agreement says.

The investigation that would lead to Bowering being charged and convicted began in August of 2020 when he was a teacher in North Vancouver. At that time, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast, where Bowering lived, received a report that "an electronic service provider account user within their jurisdiction had child pornography in their possession," according to the agreement,

Roughly six months later, on Feb. 28, 2021, police searched Bowering's home.

"The RCMP seized videos, images, and writing that police determined were consistent with child pornography," the document says.

"Bowering did not inform the school of the search and continued teaching," it continues, adding that he was arrested over March break and started a leave of absence soon after.

His certificate of qualification was cancelled in January of 2022 and the North Vancouver School District fired him in February of 2022, according to the agreement.

On Jan. 31, 2023, Bowering was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of possessing child pornography. He was given a 10-month conditional sentence order, followed by two years of probation.

"Both orders included a prohibition on Bowering being alone with anyone under the age of 16. Bowering was also subject to ancillary orders, including a DNA order and inclusion on the National Sex Offender Registry," the agreement notes.

Bowering was first certified as a teacher in 2006, according to the agreement. The BC Prosecution Service, when confirming the charge, the guilty plea and the sentence said the offence date range was from May of 2014 to February of 2021.