TEACHER POSED ‘NO IMMEDIATE THREAT’
Coquitlam school principal says she didn’t contact police when a substitute teacher was accused of touching a student because he was no longer at her school
WARNING: This story contains details that may disturb some readers.
A Coquitlam elementary school principal answered questions in court on Thursday about why police were not contacted when a substitute teacher was accused of touching a student.
Bramblewood principal Brenda Walker said there wasn’t an immediate safety concern.
“He was out of the building. There was no immediate concern when I got the complaint,” Walker testified at Aleksandr Plehanov’s trial in B.C. Provincial Court in Port Coquitlam.
Plehanov faces five charges of sexual assault, five of sexual interference and one charge of criminal harassment.
Walker began investigating Plehanov’s actions Oct. 14, 2009, after receiving a complaint from the parent of a Grade 2 student claiming that Plehanov had twice pulled her daughter on to his lap and put his hand under her shirt, where he rubbed her belly. Other students had also reportedly sat on his lap.
Walker said she asked the woman to document the allegations and contacted the school district.
Walker said she spoke with a man in human resources and they concluded that calling the police or a social worker was not warranted under the circumstances.
“There was no immediate danger after Mr. Plehanov left the building,” she repeated.
Walker added that the children who were allegedly involved did not seem “too distraught.”
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Lisa Jean Helps, Walker admitted that she at first thought the issue with Plehanov was related to boundaries and classroom management.
Walker also said that, when she started her investigation, she was not aware of any outstanding complaints against Plehanov.
The result of the investigation has not yet been revealed in court. However, according to a Freedom of Information release from 2010, Plehanov was disciplined but allowed to continue teaching.
Police were never notified in that case but became involved in March 2010 after a parent from Glen Elementary in Coquitlam alleged that Plehanov had rubbed her daughter’s buttocks. The woman called police because the school was closed for the day.
Two of the girl’s classmates testified about incidents as well.
One girl alleged that she felt Plehanov rub her buttocks and pelvic area. A second girl said Plehanov “massaged” her shoulders, put his hand inside her T-shirt as she sat at her desk and squeezed her leg between his legs when she stood at his desk.
Plehanov has also been accused of asking a girl he taught at Eagle Ridge Elementary in Coquitlam in January 2008 to sit on his lap, where he touched her waist and pelvic area.
Prosecutor Wendy Van Tongeren Harvey said in her opening statement that, during Plehanov’s three years as a teacher, he was warned by co-workers, principals and a school district official on a number of occasions about physical contact with children in elementary schools.
Laurie Birnie was principal of Leigh Elementary in Coquitlam when Plehanov substituted there in May 2007. She spoke with him after a parent complained that he had touched her daughter’s hair and made the girl uncomfortable.
Birnie testified Thursday that, during a talk in her office, she told Plehanov “for his own sake, as a male teacher in elementary school, he needed to be mindful of children’s personal space.” No formal record was made of the conversation.
The trial continues.