B.C. teacher loses licence over inappropriate relationship with 'very vulnerable' student

A B.C. high school teacher who committed misconduct by having an inappropriate, exploitative and controlling relationship with a student whom they invited to live in their home has agreed to forfeit their registration.

The office of the province's Commissioner for Teacher Regulation posted a summary of the recent consent agreement on its website Tuesday. The teacher's name and the district in which they taught have been redacted "to protect the identity of a student who was harmed, abused or exploited by the teacher," according to the summary.

The misconduct dates back to 2021 and 2022 and relates to a "very vulnerable" student who was in the teacher's class, according to the agreement. The teacher tried to "establish a parent-child relationship," told the student they loved them, and attempted to alienate the student from their family, the summary says.

"(The teacher) sought to influence and control every aspect of the student’s life," it explains.

In addition, the student's personal items and money were withheld, and the teacher made sexualized comments towards the student and gave them "gifts that were explicitly sexual in nature," the summary continues.

The teacher was suspended for 10 days without pay in December of 2022 and had their certificate of qualification suspended in January of 2023, when an investigation began.

The date on which the teacher admitted to the misconduct and agreed to a cancellation of their professional registration has been redacted from the summary.

The consequence, the professional regulator said, was based on the seriousness of the misconduct, which included the violation of a position of trust, the risk of "sexual harm," and the fact that the misconduct persisted for nearly a year.

"The teacher exploited the student for the teacher’s own personal benefit," the summary concludes.