Sexual assault conviction gets B.C. teacher 10-year ban from profession

A empty hallway is seen at a school in this Sept. 5, 2014 file photo. (Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A B.C. high school teacher who was convicted of sexual assault has lost his licence and been banned from applying for reinstatement for 10 years, according to the professional regulator.

Shay Bernard Crawford entered into a consent agreement with B.C.’s Commissioner for Teacher Regulation last month, and the document was posted online Tuesday.

The teacher was charged with one count of sexual assault in 2021 and suspended indefinitely roughly a month later after he informed the teacher regulation branch that he had been charged with a crime, the agreement said.

“He did not provide further information about the charge,” according to the document.

In 2023, Crawford was handed a conditional sentence of two years less a day, and one year of probation, the agreement said.

“The trial judge stated in the reasons for sentence that Crawford’s ‘moral culpability’ and blameworthiness are indeed high,’ that he was ‘not genuinely remorseful,’ and that he made statements that blamed the victim for his offence,” according to the document.

An appeal of his conviction in 2025 was unsuccessful.

The commissioner cited several factors explaining why a licence cancellation and 10-year ban were imposed.

“Sexual assault is a serious matter that deprives another person of their bodily integrity,” the document said.

“Crawford is presently not a person of good moral character and otherwise fit and proper to work as a teacher in a position of trust and authority.”