B.C. school counsellor suspended for failing to report student’s sexual assault

An empty classroom

A school counsellor and substitute teacher from B.C.’s Southern Interior has been issued a five-day suspension for multiple incidents of misconduct, including that she failed to report a sexual assault that had been disclosed by a student.

Cinderella June Winter admitted to the misconduct—which took place while she was working for the Kamloops-Thompson School District in 2023—in a consent agreement with the province’s commissioner for teacher regulation that was posted online this week.

The first incident happened in January of that year, when an Indigenous student approached Winters in her capacity as counsellor and disclosed they had been sexually assaulted by a fellow student.

“Winter made an assumption, which was incorrect, that the sexual assault … had been reported in the past and had been dealt with,” the agreement reads.

The counselor did not ask the student questions about the assault or confirm whether it had already been reported, according to the document.

She also failed to tell the student’s parents or a school administrator, as required by district policies.

“Winter’s actions negatively impacted the community’s feeling of trust and safety in the education system,” the commissioner determined.

That June, when Winters was called in as a substitute teacher in a Grade 8 social studies class, she also warned students not to put their cellphones in their pockets near their “reproductive zones.”

She told the class a study had found cellphone radiation could cause birth defects, and that they should be careful if they “don’t want to potentially be wiping (their) child’s bum for the rest of its life,” according to the agreement.

“While she did not indicate this to the students, Winter made this statement on the strength of a video which she had seen,” the document reads.

The commissioner found Winter’s comments demeaning to people with disabilities.

She later spent time looking up hot tubs on a computer that was projected onto a large screen in view of the class.

The district issued letters of discipline to Winters after the incidents, and she was suspended one day without pay later that year. She also lost her counselling qualifications for six weeks.

The commissioner for teacher regulation ordered a separate investigation and decided to impose another five-day suspension of her teaching certificate, which happened from May 4 to 8.

Winters retired from the Kamloops-Thomspon School District in March 2025, but online records show still has a valid teaching certificate.