Grant Park teacher charged with sexual assault was coach for high school team

The Winnipeg high school teacher facing charges for sexual contact with a student was a coach and a special education teacher during the time police say the offences were committed.

The 27-year-old woman coached a sports team at Grant Park High School, where she worked, for Grade 9 to 12 students.

CBC News is not identifying which sport she coached, or naming the teacher, to protect the victim's identity.

Documents filed with Manitoba provincial court say the teacher has been charged with one count of sexual assault and two counts of sexual exploitation related to touching, connected with alleged incidents involving a 16-year-old student.

Those charges stem from incidents police say happened between the start of December 2019 and early February of this year.

She's also facing one count of providing liquor to a minor, which police say happened on or about Feb. 8. 

The charges were laid Feb. 27. Winnipeg police say the teacher hasn't been charged with any additional offences since.

The teacher — who the Winnipeg School Division says has been placed on administrative leave — was released on conditions, including staying at least 200 metres from where the student lives, works, goes to school or worships.

She's also not allowed to possess or drink alcohol, use a cellphone that can connect to the internet, or take a job or do volunteer work that involves being in a position of trust or authority over a person under 18.

Teacher passed screening

The team she coached was a school team, but was part of a separate Winnipeg sports organization that requires all coaches to pass criminal record and child abuse registry checks. Coaches are also required to take the online certification course Respect in Sport, which includes harassment and abuse training.

Noni Classen, director of education for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, says more than registry checks should be required for anyone working with an organization that works with minors.

"Often people are relying on those measures to be sufficient for whether or not someone is safe … to be working with children," she said, but "there's so much more that needs to be done."

While registries are good screening elements, Classen said organizations need to set transparent rules about what is and isn't OK for an adult to do with minors in their roles. 

Digital communication is one example she gives. If an adult is connecting with a child electronically, Classen said there should be clear rules around when they can communicate, whether that can be done from professional accounts and/or personal ones, and what the communication can be about.

Organizations also need to be clear about how to report any violation of those rules, she said.

"There's a due diligence to be looking at … modernizing the structures that exist, and doing an audit of what does exist around policies, procedures, accountability and transparency for contact with children."

'Taints sport in such an awful way'

The Respect in Sport course teaches potential coaches how to deal with a number of issues, including identifying and dealing with abuse, and power dynamics. Sport Manitoba requires all of its registered coaches to take the online course.

While court documents don't detail where the alleged offences took place, Sport Manitoba's coaching manager, Susan Lamboo, said the idea that a person facing such charges might interact with young athletes is concerning.

"Parents and kids put their trust in coaches and or teachers," said Lamboo. "When someone does that and abuses their power, it just taints sport in such an awful way."

It's a betrayal of trust and a betrayal of their position, regardless if they're female or male.- Noni Classen

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection has studied abuse of power in schools. The centre's 2018 report looked at 750 sexual abuse cases by school workers between 1997 and 2017.

There were more male than female predators in those cases, but Classen said context is key.

"Specifically looking at schools and victimization of children by school personnel, we saw that female offenders were more significant statistically than we saw in the general population," she said.

There are also some serious misconceptions around female offenders, said Classen.

"Sometimes it can be minimized, in terms of the harm to a child who experiences abuse at the hands of a female," she said.

"That's just not true. That harm is very real. That harm extends beyond the time in which the abuse happens, and it's a betrayal of trust and a betrayal of their position, regardless if they're female or male."

Division offering counselling

In an email sent to CBC earlier this week, the Winnipeg School Division said it is "continuing to co-operate with the Winnipeg Police Service in their ongoing investigation," and is "continuing to provide students who need it extra counselling and support."

Classen said it's important to take care of the emotional well-being of everyone at the school, because the situation affects more than just the alleged victim.

"The sense of that betrayal, that upset, the emotional harm and the questions will impact the entire community. And so it is something where there's going to need to be trust that's re-established," she said. "It's going to take time to rebuild."

Grant Park High School sent a letter home to parents Feb. 28 about the situation. The letter, signed by the school's principal Jamie Hutchison, states that police are "proceeding with a criminal investigation against a Grant Park High School teacher, regarding a situation outside the school."

The teacher is expected to be in court next month.