Ont. teacher gets 2 years in prison for sex-related offences with students

Ontario teacher Jaclyn McLaren (left) arrives at the Quinte Courthouse in Belleville, Ont., on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg)

A former Ontario school teacher has been sentenced to two years in prison for her involvement in sexual encounters with her teenaged students.

Back in March, 36-year-old Jaclyn McLaren pleaded guilty to multiple sex-related offences in connection with a series of incidents that occurred while she was working as a French teacher in Tweed, Ont.

McLaren initially faced 42 charges but those were later reduced to two counts of sexual exploitation, two counts of luring, possession of child pornography and making explicit material available.

In his ruling, Justice Stephen Hunter sentenced McLaren to two years in the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont. with two subsequent years of probation.

Hunter ordered that McLaren have no contact with the victims or their families, banned her from using any social media and forbid her from being in contact with anyone under 18 years old online. She’s also not permitted to be near playgrounds or public places where children could be present for 10 years after her release.

Previously, the courts heard that four of the eight victims were under the age of 16. The remaining were under 18 at the time.

Of the eight victims, six were students of McLaren. None of them can be identified under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

According to The Canadian Press, the series of incidents started after a male student searched through her phone while using it for a school-related task and found explicit photos of McLaren.

The student then blackmailed her into sending more photos and once she complied, the student shared the images with other students.

McLaren admitted in court to sending an image of her breasts to a 13-year-old student of hers.

The courts heard that McLaren eventually met two of the boys off school grounds where they drank alcohol together before she performed oral sex on them.

Six other male students came forward later, sharing with the court similar experiences where McLaren exchanged sexually explicit images of herself with them.

The Canadian Press said one of the complainants produced screen shots of photos McLaren sent to him of her breasts while another told the courts that he had sex with McLaren at her home just after he turned 18.

McLaren told the court she wasn’t aware some of the boys were underage but admitted that she made an insufficient effort to determine their ages.

Justice Hunter has ordered McLaren register as a sex offender for the rest of her life and for her to undergo “sexual treatment.”

The parent of one of the victim’s told the court that they “never dreamed” they’d be dropping their son off at school in the care “of a predator.” That same parent questioned why no other teachers at the community school noticed the “buzzards relationship between student and teachers.”

With files from The Canadian Press