Teacher charged with sex assault on pupil

A teacher has been accused of having a year-long sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student at her school.

The Calgary Police Service said Wednesday the teacher, who is in her 40s, has been charged with sexual interference and sexual assault. She has been suspended by the school board with pay.

“We are devastated by this,” Calgary Board of Education spokesman Richard Peter told reporters. “We are focused on ‘how do we learn from this?’

“It is horrifying that there have been two similar incidents in too short a period of time — because one incident is too many.”

Peter was referring to a case from two months ago in which a caretaker was charged after allegedly touching a sevenyear-old girl.

The new charges came to the attention of police in early November in light of information from a third party. Police did not explain the nature of what they described as an inappropriate relationship.

Danielle Aubry of Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse noted a 14-year-old cannot, by law, have a consensual sexual relationship with an authority figure.

“Kids that age can’t make a choice,” Aubry said. “This is clearly a sexual abuse situation. It has nothing to do with a relationship.”

She also said sexual encounters between a student and teacher can be “extremely confusing” for kids, especially when grades are involved.

Boys, Aubry continued, may feel more pressure to accept a relationship with an older woman due to pop culture depictions.

“We even see it in movies nowadays,” she said. “If an older lady is approaching a boy then it’s, ‘Oh, that’s great — she’s hot.’

“It doesn’t address the power dynamics in that situation.”

Authorities have withheld her name and the name of the school to protect the victim’s identity and another key witness.

The youth, who is now 15, has been working co-operatively with police. The teacher was previously unknown to police.

“We don’t believe that there are any other victims in this case,” said child abuse unit Staff Sgt. Kelly Campbell.

“But we do encourage that if anyone does any have information regarding sexual assaults to come forward.”

Campbell said charges like these against a female teacher are rare.

The CBE has crisis counsellors available to students and a letter has been sent home to parents. Public board employees are subjected to background checks prior employment.

The accused has been scheduled to appear in court Jan. 28.