Mike on Crime

Canwest News Service
EDMONTON — A 44-year-old Edmonton-area teacher has been charged with the sexual exploitation of a girl.
RCMP began an investigation Thursday into the teacher’s actions with a student during the summer break.
The Edmonton man was employed at St. Marguerite’s Junior High School in Spruce Grove, Alta., just west of Edmonton.
The offences don’t involve any current students at the school, police said.
The man, whose name has not been released, has been charged with two counts of sexual exploitation and two counts of sexual interference.
Sexual interference charges include unwanted sexual touching and can’t be laid unless the victim is under the age of 14 at the time of the offence, said Sanjeev Anand, a legal expert at the University of Alberta.
In general, sexual exploitation charges are laid in cases when an accused has an established relationship of trust with the victim, he added, but they can also be laid if the victim is older than 14.
The accused is scheduled to appear in court next week.
He was released on the condition that he does not have contact with anyone under the age of 18. He also cannot go to the school without a police escort.
Sgt. Jim Martin of the Spruce Grove RCMP said the school board is offering counselling services to both the young victim and the accused teacher.
“We had a similar thing approximately three years ago in which the suspect took his life,” he said. “We don’t want a repeat of that.”
On Dec. 18, 2005, a former gym teacher at a Spruce Grove school was found dead in his home. He had a court appearance scheduled for that day.
Police had charged him with making child pornography and sexually assaulting a young student.