Teacher’s behaviour ‘morally shocking’

‘He made me believe that having a sexual relationship ... was normal and OK’: student

Having struggled with a learning disability, the teen was thrilled when a high school teacher took her under his wing.

Through his technology classes at St. Catharines Collegiate, she was introduced to potential careers.

Bolstered by teacher Lorne Gocking’s encouragement, she refused to let her learning disability define her and she began to dream of a career as a welder.

That dream was quashed, however, when she turned 17 and she was sexually exploited by the man she thought of as a friend and mentor.

“She really started to feel like she had a path, that she could actually really succeed at something, which was a new feeling for her,” assistant Crown attorney Donna Polgar said in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.

“Now, she doesn’t feel like she can do anything because the person who led her to this path was Mr. Gocking and she has no faith any longer in anything he said to her, or what she felt were her abilities.”

The 54-year-old former teacher appeared in court Friday for a sentencing hearing on a charge of sexual exploitation.

In a victim impact statement, the young woman said her teacher took advantage of her vulnerabilities.

“He knew that I had learning disabilities, knew that I had previously been bullied, knew that I had a history of not fitting in,” she wrote in her statement.

“I feel like he used that knowledge to groom me and to make me believe that he was the only person I could trust and count on.”

The manipulation escalated, she said, and “he made me believe that having a sexual relationship with him was normal and OK.”

The Crown described the case as “morally shocking” and an “utterly egregious” breach of trust.

“He groomed her from that position of power as somebody who was not only her teacher and not only her mentor but also someone almost 40 years her senior during an incredibly vulnerable time of development for a vulnerable young woman,” Polgar said.

“The damage to (the victim) during such a critical period of her development has been terrible.”

Court heard the victim did not attend her high school graduation, and although she was accepted into a welding program at college, she has been unable to attend.

“I could not bring myself to actually start because my whole high school experience was based on lies, abuse and manipulation and I felt like I couldn’t go through that again,” she said in her statement.

Niagara Regional Police launched an investigation in 2022 after detectives received information regarding a sexual assault involving a teacher from District School Board of Niagara.

Gocking had been employed with the public board since 2001.

Police issued a Canada-wide warrant for the defendant’s arrest in August 2022. He was arrested in Calgary two months later and returned to Niagara.

Defence lawyer Jeffrey Manishen said his client accepts full responsibility for his actions and advocated for a sentence of two years in custody. Gocking apologized to the victim. “My actions were wrong,” he said. “As a person of trust I took advantage of the situation, and this is unacceptable behaviour. I am very remorseful.”

Judge Donald Wolfe is expected to deliver his sentence in March.