Teacher's sexual convictions, history, spark calls for reviews, protections for P.E.I. students

"The thing I grapple with the most is that people knew what was happening and nothing was done," said Alicia. Ever since she testified in court against her former high school band teacher Roger Jabbour, she said she's been struggling to come to terms with that.

Jabbour was convicted of sexually touching Alicia (not her real name) and two other female students at Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown between 2012 and 2015. 

The young women can't be named because of a court-ordered publication ban. CBC has spoken with two of the three — and two dozen other students of Jabbour's who allege a history of inappropriate behaviour going back three decades including: frequent unwanted hugs, hand-holding and shoulder rubs; frequent crying spells by Jabbour; angry outbursts; swearing at students, sexual comments and using students as confidantes.

At his trial he told the court he did hug students regularly, and often held their hands to say thank you and to offer comfort and support. He denied getting angry with students.

Jabbour was sentenced to 15 months in jail and was recently released from custody. 

Through his lawyer he told CBC he has no comment on these new allegations.

"The persistent and inexcusable behaviour that occurred was due to Roger's personal choices and actions. But it was also allowed to continue due to the apathy of those in the community — fellow teachers, parents, and the administration of Colonel Gray and the Public School Board," another former student we're calling Sarah told CBC. Jabbour was convicted of touching her sexually too.

Sarah, Alicia, and the other former students CBC spoke with — along with several groups representing women and girls on P.E.I. — are calling for a review of what was known about Jabbour's inappropriate behaviour over his 46-year career: whether complaints were fully investigated, and whether Jabbour was disciplined. They also want to know what is being done to protect students in the future, not just at Colonel Gray, but across the province.

"I'd like to see it taken seriously," said Michelle Jay, with the P.E.I. Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

"To say 'We learned from this. This was a bad thing that happened for 30 years, we don't want that happening again, and here's what we're going to try to put in place as protocols and procedures, so that it doesn't happen again.' I think that would send a huge message to students that they're important," said Jay.

"There's a major gap in protecting our children in schools," said Jillian Kilfoil, executive director of Women's Network P.E.I. That gap, she says, exists between acts that don't meet the legal bar of criminal behaviour, but are still inappropriate and harmful to students.

Jay and Kilfoil's groups, along with the P.E.I. Rape Crisis Centre first called for a review back in October 2018. To date they have not had a response.

'They're vulnerable'

Several former students told CBC their parents did complain to Colonel Gray school officials over the years, but Jabbour's hugs, unwanted touches, crying, and angry outbursts, they said, continued. 

CBC has direct information of only four complaints of inappropriate behaviour being reported to four different principals. (Those incidents are separate from the criminal  complaints that went to court.) CBC was able to reach three former principals who supervised Jabbour over the years. They all said any complaints they received were not sexual in nature. Two of the three said the complaints about Jabbour were no more frequent or serious than the ones they got about other teachers.

At Jabbour's sentencing hearing court heard that police had copies of some of written complaints parents made about Jabbour. CBC asked the Department of Education for records of all complaints against the teacher and was refused. CBC filed a freedom of information request for them and is waiting for a response. 

"If we don't measure and track things it doesn't get followed up on," said Kilfoil. She wants to see a clear process for documenting complaints and recording what action was taken. 

Former chaperone Anne Gillis agrees. She told CBC she found Jabbour in the hotel room of a group of girls, late at night on a band trip in 2004 and had to order him to leave the room. She said she reported it, but is not aware if school officials took any action.

Now that Jabbour has been convicted, Gillis said this case has served as a wake-up call for P.E.I. in this age of the #metoo movement.

"There's been a lot of tolerance in society for unacceptable behaviour and with young people, in many cases, they don't know what rules are. They're vulnerable," she said. "With our education system we have an increased obligation to protect the innocent. If a complaint is registered, employers need to take that seriously and investigate."

Why many students, parents didn't say anything

While some spoke up, many others didn't. Some students tell CBC that Jabbour's behaviour was accepted as a part of life at Colonel Gray. 

"It was just Roger being Roger," said Vanessa Rice, who had Jabbour in his final years of teaching. "You'd want to brush it off and believe it wasn't happening to people you know, from someone you see every day."

Students said that attitude dates back decades. The angry outbursts, swearing, shouting at students, and hugs were regular occurrences, well-known by many, said Stephanie Bethune (Colonel Gray 2007-2010). "Everyone in the community knew about this kind of behaviour, so I didn't feel I had anything to tell ... I never felt any concern because I was taught not to feel any concern about this."

"Now that I'm an adult looking back there's no justification for that behaviour.… At the time it was just Roger being Roger. We didn't realize how wrong it was," said Erica Stanley (Colonel Gray 1991-94). "Because the band program was so successful and he was such a very gifted teacher and gifted director who brought out the best in us in a lot of ways, probably people turned a blind eye and focused on the positive parts and just hoped that he would stop."

Lisa Sanderson (Colonel Gray 1993-1996) was one of several former students who told CBC they ended up as Jabbour's confidantes, reassuring him that he was well-liked, and listening to his personal issues. 

She now teaches band at Harbourview High School in Saint John, N.B., and shudders when she thinks back to her own high school years. "I should have said lots of things, but I didn't. I didn't recognize it at the time — that it was inappropriate." 

Sarah eventually told her story in court. She said looking back "It just seemed like part of his teaching style, or part of the culture of the band program." Jabbour gradually worked up to kissing her face and neck, pulling her onto his lap, and pressing his body against her, according to her testimony in court.

Sarah recalls being taught about "stranger danger" as a child, but doesn't remember any information at Colonel Gray on how to recognize inappropriate behaviour or report concerns about a teacher. Neither do any of the other students CBC spoke with.

Mark Carr-Rollitt heard the rumours. He said his daughter quit band because of Jabbour's inappropriate jokes and comments. At the time he didn't press the issue, but wishes now, he had.

"One of my regrets is that I didn't ask more questions about that. I suppose I could say, selfishly, nothing happened in our situation. It was just, you know, some teachers are great, some teachers aren't. And she felt uncomfortable so we didn't push it."

Some former students tell CBC they knew in their gut that Jabbour had crossed a line, even if they didn't know how to explain it in words.

"I don't think a lot of teenagers have a really good idea of that line," said Tillie MacEachern (Colonel Gray 2014-16). "Especially because in high school your teachers do kind of open up this new way that they act with you and speak to you. You're no longer really a kid." She said Jabbour called her "dumb" in front of the class. 

'Children should know their rights'

There needs to be conversations in schools about appropriate boundaries for teacher-student relationships, said MacEachern. "It's just as important as any presentation on lockdowns or fire drills or sexual health." 

Kathy Vandergrift of the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children agrees. "We are very strong advocates that children should know their rights," she said, "including the right to have a voice, and the right to be heard, and the right to have them taken seriously."

Too often, she said, concerns raised by children are dismissed.

Kilfoil of Women's Network P.E.I. hopes to see conversations in schools about student rights. "We really need to talk about those behaviours and those boundaries in school what is appropriate, what isn't appropriate and what we can do to protect ourselves when something happens that doesn't feel right."

As a teacher now, Sanderson said she recognizes educators are in a unique situation. "Teachers are in a very huge position of trust. And when parents send their kids to school, they trust that you know those boundaries are not going to be crossed," she said. She feels it's important for educators and students to talk about how certain interactions with teachers make them feel. "Maybe some teachers don't know that that's how they were being perceived," said Sanderson.

Discipline, prevention

A national group that tracks abuse and exploitation of children in Canada is encouraging P.E.I. and other provinces to do more. The Winnipeg-based charity Canadian Centre for Child Protection would like to see all disciplinary actions against teachers posted online. Right now only three provinces do that: Ontario, B.C. and Saskatchewan. 

The centre's education director Noni Classen said teachers, "have a role and custodial rights over children in a way that no one else has power over children." She said posting disciplinary action online provides oversight and transparency.

Recent research by the charity found that every week somewhere in Canada there's a new case of a school teacher sexually abusing a student, numbers that have remained consistent over the past 20 years. 

Classen said while there may be grey areas in terms of what is and isn't appropriate behaviour, she said generally she considers any action taken by a teacher to meet their own needs, rather than a student's — to be inappropriate. 

"We have to be educating students from kindergarten all the way up to high school about what the standards of measure are for what's okay and what's not okay," said Classen.

Most students don't disclose, she said. Instead they blame themselves or think they're going to get in trouble. Schools have to take a lead so students know there are adults looking out for them, she said. 

Classen's group is working with every province and territory in Canada — except P.E.I. They travel across Canada, meeting with teachers, unions, and school administrators about what to watch for, how to prevent abuse, and how to intervene if inappropriate behaviour is suspected. 

'A lot of shame'

Students CBC talked to said years, even decades, after graduation, they still feel the impact of being in Jabbour's class.

"I came away with a lot of shame because I internalized and took responsibility for a lot of what happened," said Sarah. "The scars that he inflicted just mentally ... run very deep."

Recalling memories from a few years ago — or a few decades  —  some students say they can still feel Jabbour's touch on their skin — the tactile memory of contact that still makes them flinch.

Carr-Rollitt said he's angered and saddened that students felt they had little choice but to put up with Jabbour, especially if they wanted to pursue music as a career. "For them to have to deal with somebody like Jabbour ... that really gets me angry, and it puts those students in a really difficult position.

"Why should it take three 15 year olds coming forward to make this whole thing start?" asks Carr-Rollitt, adding that student safety in schools is also a community responsibility.

Asking for public acknowledgement 

For Claire Byrne (Colonel Gray 2009-2012) and many others it's difficult to move on. She said she witnessed Jabbour's angry outbursts, and coped with his inappropriate comments about her appearance, but still admired him for his musical talent, his dedication and drive. 

She said the school system owes it to students, past, present and future, to make things right. "We have to find a way for it as a community for people to feel safe," she said.

"Do [students] feel comfortable to come forward when they feel like an authority figure has crossed the line?" asked Byrne. "What I would like to see is some sort of public acknowledgement from the school board to say like we'll never let this happen again."

Byrne, along with other former students, and women's groups on P.E.I. are frustrated they haven't seen the school or the Department of Education do anything publicly to assure students and parents that complaints will be investigated seriously in the future. 

"It feels to me like the whole community had a responsibility," said Jay. "People in authority, parents, principals, other colleagues of Roger Jabbour, had a responsibility to speak up and I would like to see that become more the accepted practice." 

Government response

CBC has made repeated requests to government for an interview with the education minister.

Instead, the department responded with a statement. "As public expectations for the safety of our children continue to increase, P.E.I. education authorities are taking additional steps to ensure that Island schools are safe and caring places to learn and work."

The statement said the policies of the Public Schools Branch were revised in 2018, "including procedures to address inappropriate behaviours such as bullying, harassment and abuse." It said in the past year PSB staff had been trained on documenting, reporting and responding to allegations against a student or a staff member.

The new, revised policy says if a student feels their teacher is acting inappropriately they should report it to a teacher or principal. It says the principal must document it and that if the conduct is serious enough, or suspected sexual abuse, the principal will notify the director of student services, and police will be called in.

The province did not explain what parts, if any, of previously existing policy had changed.

The statement also said students get information about consent in their health curriculum.

There was no mention in the statement of a review of the Jabbour case.

The P.E.I. Teachers' Federation, the Home and School Federation and P.E.I.'s Children's Commissioner and Advocate, all declined comment.

For now, former students and others pushing for change, wait for a response on their call for a review. The silence, they feel, is essentially condoning Jabbour's behaviour.

"If this case isn't taken seriously then it's putting up a standard for a lot of other teachers in P.E.I. ... and it doesn't make school a safe place to be for anybody," said MacEachern.

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