Former teacher jailed for sex with student
Relationship with 17-yearold girl lasted five months
A former Edmonton teacher who had a sexual relationship with a high school student has been sent to jail for two years.
Brad Ashley Glenn, 37, was convicted earlier this year of sexual touching of a person he was in a position of trust or authority over.
The female student, who cannot be named, was 16 at the start of the relationship, which lasted from December 2009 to May 2010.
“Society has a right to expect that teachers will not take advantage of the trust that is placed in them,” said provincial court Judge Marilena Carminati. “This accused shows a remarkable lack of insight into why his behaviour was wrong.”
Court heard that Glenn taught the girl English when she was in Grade 10 at W.P. Wagner High School in 2007, but they remained close after she left his classroom.
In that school year, they discussed her stressful home life. The teen began to trust Glenn with issues outside school, Crown prosecutor Shelley Bykewich told court.
This began a relationship in which Glenn cast himself as the girl’s supportive hero, Bykewich said in her sentencing arguments. At one point, the girl told Glenn she had been sexually assaulted by a youth.
“He takes this opportunity to bring her from the ashes and says, let me be your hero, let your next sexual experience be with me,” Bykewich said.
Carminati mentioned that moment during her sentencing and said, “true acts of compassion and kindness do not include your own sexual gratification.”
By 2009, the married man was visiting the girl at her apartment.
Despite repeated warnings from colleagues that the relationship was wrong, Glenn began to have sex with the girl weeks after she turned 17. Over the next few months, they saw each other “constantly,” said they loved each other and had sex numerous times. Glenn gave the girl money and bought groceries.
The girl told police that Glenn would withdraw his emotional support if she tried to stop their sexual relationship, according to an agreed statement of facts submitted to court.
“It was frustrating because he made me feel like I didn’t have an option,” she told investigators.
The Edmonton public school board began to investigate in May 2010 after security noticed that Glenn was regularly entering Kate Chegwin Junior High, where he then taught, after 11 p.m. Shortly after, Glenn was told he would be suspended, but resigned on June 1, 2010, before the suspension was official.
Less than two weeks later, the girl contacted police.
On Thursday court also heard that Glenn admitted to a probation officer that he’d had relationships with other former students.
Glenn read a prepared statement. “I am very sorry she had to go through this,” Glenn said about his victim. He told court that he had deluded himself into believing he was being heroic and ended up failing as a public figure and “causing damage.”
After his jail term, Glenn will be on probation for two years. He must have no contact with his victim and is banned from employment in which he would be in a position of trust over minors.