Ottawa educational assistant pleads guilty to sexual exploitation of student
Katherine Kitts arrested in 2014 after a mother contacted police
Katherine Kitts has pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting a 15-year-old boy while she was an educational assistant with the Ottawa Carleton District School Board.
"My innocence was destroyed by Mrs. Kitts," the teenage boy said in a statement read in court by the Crown.
The 45-year-old was arrested in 2014, after a mother contacted police with concerns about Kitts's relationship with her son, after finding sexually explicit texts on his phone.
Court documents alleged the offences happened between April 2012 and April 2014, while Kitts was working at Sir Robert Borden High School.
Kitts had a sexual relationship with the student over the course of a couple of years, starting in the spring of 2012. The two would regularly have sex in Kitts's van, parked off school property.
Other charges stayed
Kitts was initially charged with sexual assault, sexual exploitation and telecommunication with a person under 18. On Thursday afternoon, she pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation. The other charges were stayed.
Kitts was released on $5,000 bail after being charged in Oct. 2014.
Kitts, who is divorced and has two children of her own, was ordered by the court in 2014 not to see her children except with the control of the Children's Aid Society.
In his statement, the victim said Kitts threatened to fail him if he broke off their relationship.
"I want everyone to know this hurts boys as much as girls," he said in the statement.
Kitts' employment to be terminated
Kitts had been on leave with pay.
In light of the guilty plea, the OCDSB said she is now on leave without pay and that it will make an immediate recommendation to terminate her employment.
The maximum sentence for a conviction for sexual exploitation is ten years. Kitts will now undergo a psychiatric assessment and be back in court for sentencing Aug. 22.