Man convicted of sex crimes loses teaching licence

Man jailed for sex crimes found guilty of professional misconduct by board

An Estevan teacher who was imprisoned for sex offences against three students is also guilty of professional misconduct and is prohibited from teaching in Saskatchewan.

Troy Ruzicka was not present at his Saskatchewan Professional Teachers Regulatory Board (SPTRB) disciplinary hearing on Feb. 14, as he was incarcerated in the Prince Albert penitentiary.

On Thursday, the SPTRB published its March 26 decision, which stated “the discipline committee has no hesitation in finding that Mr. Ruzicka engaged in professional misconduct. … By any measure, Mr. Ruzicka’s conduct is disgraceful and dishonourable.”

Ruzicka was sentenced in an Estevan courtroom on Nov. 20 to five years in prison after pleading guilty on Sept. 11 to seven criminal charges: two counts of sexual assault, three counts of luring, one count of sexual exploitation and one count of accessing child pornography.

The SPTRB will prohibit Ruzicka from holding a teaching certificate or temporary teaching permit “now and in the future.”

Between March 1, 2014, and Jan. 9, 2016, Ruzicka engaged in inappropriate relationships with three female students, while he was teaching at Estevan Comprehensive School on a temporary teaching permit.

Using a fake Facebook profile, he posed as a teen girl and pushed two of the students into a sexual relationship with him. With one girl, he had sex on a weekly basis, usually at the school.

Ruzicka was fired in March 2017, after the school and South East Cornerstone School Division became aware of and investigated his conduct.

The SPTRB’s formal complaint was dated Jan. 15, almost two months after Ruzicka’s criminal conviction.

Following the disciplinary hearing in Regina, SPTRB registrar Trevor Smith said an “accused has the right to have his allegations heard in a public forum,” and “you have to adhere to those principles” when talking about prohibiting a person’s future livelihood.

To the charge of professional misconduct, Ruzicka did not issue a plea, and did not have representation at the hearing.

In his absence, the teachers’ regulatory body outlined evidence obtained by an RCMP investigation and its own investigation.

The SPTRB decision cited precedence of an Ontario case: Sarnia teacher Dale Maheux’s teaching certificate was revoked in 2014 after he was convicted in criminal court of sexually assaulting a student.

The Saskatchewan disciplinary body did not fine or penalize Ruzicka to cover costs of the investigation and hearing, as it usually does — although it did consider imposing a $5,000 fine.

“But for the unique circumstances of this case, the discipline committee would have imposed a costs order,” the decision read.

Ruzicka will never be allowed by the SPTRB to teach again, which makes redundant the penalty for not paying a fine — to wit, suspension of a teaching permit.

But for the unique circumstances of this case, the discipline committee would have imposed a costs order.