Ontario teacher pleads guilty to sex crimes against minors

BELLEVILLE, Ont. — An Ontario middle-school teacher who had sexual encounters with several students and traded nude photos with them pleaded guilty to seven charges on Tuesday in what her lawyer said was an effort to take responsibility for her actions.

Jaclyn McLaren, a French teacher for Grades 6 to 8 at a school in a community near Belleville, Ont., originally faced 42 charges after eight teens — six of whom were her students — came forward with allegations of a sexual nature, according to an agreed statement of facts.

She was arrested early last year and has been out on bail since then, though she has not taught in that time.

At the court hearing on Tuesday, McLaren pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation, two counts of luring, possession of child pornography and making explicit material available to people under 18 and people under 16.

Her lawyer said after the hearing that the charges had been condensed because several of them applied to the same behaviour, and the court cannot convict a person of two crimes for the same thing.

McLaren did not speak as she left court but her lawyer, Pieter Kort, said she felt tremendous remorse.

“She did the best thing that she knew to do and that is to plead guilty and take responsibility for what happened,” he said, adding the last year has been difficult for McLaren and her family as well.

McLaren is set to be sentenced May 19 after undergoing a sex offender assessment. The Crown has indicated it will seek a jail sentence.