Calgary teacher charged following incident involving students at northeast school

Calgary teacher faces sex charges Calgary police say students who recognized a serious problem with a teacher should be commended. Shaun Frenette reports.

A teacher at Bob Edwards School in the city’s northeast is facing charges in connection to an incident that involved several students in October.

Police were called to the school in the 4400 block of Marlborough Drive N.E. on October 25, 2018 at about 11:10 a.m.

Witnesses told police that a teacher appeared to be impaired when they arrived at the school that morning.

“From the observations made by the victim and the witnesses, they seem to believe it was alcohol. Their observations seem to lend that credence. We’re unsure, he wasn’t tested or anything like that,” said Staff Sgt. John Guigon from the CPS Child Abuse Unit.

The witnesses said that the teacher then tried to talk to a number of students and made inappropriate comments and physical contact.

“I can tell you it seemed to be between classes, so there’s movement between classes in the corridors and stuff and it was a very fluid situation. It just sort of happened while kids were transitioning between classes,” said Guigon.

The teacher then allegedly ended up in a classroom alone with a student and made unwanted advances and inappropriate comments to the student.

The student reported the incident to another teacher and police were called in.

“They are very switched-on kids. As soon as it started happening, you can see on the video in fact, where one kid runs to grab a teacher. The teacher responds almost immediately and discovers a student with the alleged offender. It really happened very, very quickly. But kids are really smart, very brave, they knew something was wrong and responded appropriately. They should be commended,” said Sgt. Guigon.

Investigators say the accused teacher left the facility before officers arrived.

Mikhail Koleskinov, 35, is charged with sexual interference with a child under 16, and unlawful confinement.

Police say Koleskinov has no criminal history but that the investigation is ongoing.

“We charge on one victim but we believe there are others. We do consider this to be an open investigation, still under investigation, so it’s quite possible there will be other victims. We are actually waiting for several more to come forward. We expect that these charges are going to bring others forward,” said Guigon. “There’s no indication that there’s any incidents in the past. They are all going to be related to that day in October.”

The Calgary Board of Education released a statement on Friday saying…

The Calgary Board of Education is aware of the charges laid against a staff member from an incident at Bob Edwards School in October. The school fully cooperated with the Calgary Police Service during their investigation. In accordance with the collective agreement, this employee is currently suspended with pay.

As this is a personnel issue and now a legal issue, we are unable to provide further comment.

Koleskinov was charged on Thursday and released with conditions.

He is scheduled to appear in court in January.