Lifetime teaching ban for B.C. man convicted for 'inappropriate' contact with student

A middle school teacher from British Columbia has been banned from his profession for life after pleading guilty to assault for an incident involving a student.

The B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation published a summary of the incident this week, but withheld a number of key details – including the teacher's name and the school district where he was working for – in order to protect the underage victim's identity.

The summary does confirm the teacher invited a student from his class into his office, at which point he “pulled (the student) onto his lap and had inappropriate physical contact” with the child.

The teacher was criminally charged in connection with the incident and pleaded guilty to assault, though the details of the case are also limited due to a publication ban.

The B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation's summary does not indicate when the incident took place, but said the teacher’s district suspended him in September 2019. He eventually resigned in October 2020.

The teacher has signed as consent agreement banning him from obtaining a certificate that would allow him to teach in the kindergarten to Grade 12 system – at either public or private schools – anywhere in the province for the rest of his life.

The fact that the teacher had "engaged in criminal misconduct," "compromised his privileged position of power and trust" and "violated students' physical and emotional safety and wellbeing" were all taken into account when deciding on his ban, according to the summary.

The summary also noted the teacher had been previously warned about his behaviour after he "responded inappropriately" to a student's threat of self-harm.