Teacher confessed to principal
The former Raymond high school teacher on trial for having inappropriate interactions with a female student, confessed to the principal that he and the girl met several times in 2016.
One of those meetings occurred after Jentry Jack Salmon had been warned to avoid members of his girls’ basketball team because of rumours surrounding him and one of the players.
The principal, Todd Heggie, testified Thursday in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench that Salmon contacted him on Oct. 8 — only a day before Heggie was to meet with the girl’s parents — and said he needed to talk. When the two men met in the school office that night, Salmon nervously told Heggie he and the girl had met at Corner Lake in the southeast corner of Raymond on five occasions.
Heggie told court he was shocked and surprised by the revelation, but Salmon assured him he and the girl remained in their own vehicles and his wife knew of the meetings.
The next day Salmon was suspended.
Although the accused admitted to the meetings at Corner Lake, he didn’t say anything about other meetings he and the girl had, or that they had regularly communicated through text messages and Snapchat. The girl testified Monday and Tuesday they met many times during her Grade 11 year in 2016 and drove to various locations near Raymond where they could be alone. They would drive out to Ridge Park south of Raymond, put blankets in the back of his truck then lie down and cuddle. Salmon also kissed her neck and cheek, she said.
The girl’s mother said during her testimony Wednesday that she checked her daughter’s cellphone logs and printed nine pages of communications between the two between July and the fall of 2016. But every time the girl’s parents questioned her about her relationship with Salmon and the rumours, she insisted nothing was going on.
Salmon is charged with one count each of sexual exploitation and child luring, stemming from the allegations that he and the girl, who is now 19 but was a minor in 2015 and 2016 and can’t be identified, had inappropriate interactions.
The girl’s father testified Thursday for the Crown, as well, and he wasn’t too concerned about the rumours involving Salmon and his daughter during her Grade 11 year in 2015, and didn’t notice anything “major” about their behaviour, especially during basketball season when regular interactions were expected between players and the coach.
But he grew increasingly concerned, he told court, because his daughter often talked about Salmon and the two would exchange pictures. Then he became alarmed after Salmon told him about a picture students took of himself and the girl walking together, around which the students had placed a heart.
Salmon told the girl’s father that it wasn’t “a big deal,” and that he had already told administration about it.
The father’s fears were confirmed after he and his wife met with Heggie the day after Salmon admitted he had met with the girl on five occasions. Their daughter had told them the same thing only a few days earlier.
They went to the police the following day.
An officer told the father she believed the girl had been groomed by Salmon, and suggested the parents teach their daughter about grooming. The father told court he found a reputable article on the subject, and his wife told their daughter to read it and highlight anything that pertained to her situation. The next day the article was “all highlighted,” he said.
The Crown concluded it’s case Thursday, but defence isn’t expected to begin its case until Monday. Eichler told court he isn’t positive how many witnesses he may call to the stand, but suggested he may call one or two.
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