Records reveal 20 Manitoba teachers suspended for misconduct, including 14 convicted of sexual offences

At least 20 teachers have been disciplined by Manitoba's education ministry since 2016 for serious offences — the bulk of which were criminal in nature and include sexual touching, possession of child pornography, luring a child and sexual assault, CBC News has learned.

Not included in those 20 cases is one from 2017 that involved a high school teacher convicted of physically assaulting a student. That teacher was allowed to return to work at the rural Manitoba school where the assault happened, despite pleas from the child's father.

"This is likely the tip of the iceberg because ... the criminal cases are going to be a small, small spectrum of the overall issues that might be going on," said Monique St. Germain, general counsel for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.

"But that's not to suggest that we in any way think that the sexual abuse of students is widespread and happening in every school."

Of the 20 cases of teachers who were sanctioned by the ministry from 2016 to September of this year, 14 involved criminal charges that were sexual in nature. Six involved professional misconduct, which the province won't elaborate on, citing privacy legislation.

It's not clear how many of the 14 cases involving criminal charges also involved students, or if the incidents that led to the charges happened inside or outside the school system.

Ten of those cases have led to teachers losing their teaching certificates permanently. In the other cases, the certificates were suspended — indefinitely in some instances.

3 new cases of misconduct this school year

The 20 cases came to light in documents obtained through a freedom of information request. Since CBC obtained the records, three more cases of misconduct have been reported to the province that may be subject to disciplinary action, according to a provincial spokesperson.

Two of those three teachers have been criminally charged and allegations of professional misconduct have been made in the third case, the spokesperson said.

St. Germain pointed out the bulk of the cases in the documents obtained by CBC are criminal in nature, which suggests to her there are likely many more cases of questionable teacher conduct that were never reported to the province's education department.

The 20 cases listed in the documents have never been reported publicly by the province. CBC was only able to identify four that were previously reported on by the media after police laid criminal charges.

"There's a lack of transparency, and with a lack of transparency comes a lack of potential accountability," St. Germain said.

"If we don't know what sorts of incidents are being examined, then we can't possibly know whether or not they're being handled appropriately."

Disciplinary records for teachers are not made public in Manitoba, but are published online in some provinces like Ontario, B.C. and Saskatchewan.

In Manitoba, only the most serious cases appear to result in discipline from the education minister's office.

Teacher dragged, pushed student

When a high school teacher was convicted of physically assaulting a student at an extracurricular activity in 2017 in rural Manitoba, no disciplinary action was ever taken by the ministry.

The incident, which was reported in a Manitoba newspaper, isn't included in the list of 20 cases provided to CBC, and the teacher is still employed at the same school where the assault happened.

According to court records, the teacher was given an 18-month conditional discharge for the assault, which happened when the teacher dragged and pushed the student before he singled him out in front of a group of students.

The teacher pleaded guilty to one count of assault, and was sentenced to 30 hours of community service as well as counselling.

He was prohibited from being near the student with the exception of incidental contact at the school, which he returned to last fall after being temporarily moved to another school.

He was allowed to return in spite of opposition from the boy's father.

"I phoned the superintendent when I heard in the summertime that he was going to be back," the father said.

"I tried pleading my case and I was told there's nothing I could do about it. He met his conditions and what he had to do."

CBC is not naming the man to protect the identity of his son.

The parent said he was stunned when he learned the teacher would be allowed to return to work at his son's high school.

"This guy should not be teaching kids," the father said.

The student didn't sustain any injuries in the assault. In an email to CBC News, the teacher said he's happy to be back working at the high school, where he feels he belongs and can do the best for students.

Post discipline records online: centre

In Manitoba, a school division can choose to voluntarily report teacher misconduct to the department of education.

But school boards are only obliged by law to report charges or convictions against a teacher that involve physical or sexual abuse of children, according to a government spokesperson.

Once a report is made, documentation and reports are collected to determine if there's enough evidence to warrant a hearing before a teacher certificate review committee.

The 10-member committee includes representatives from the Manitoba Teachers' Society, the Manitoba School Boards Association, the Manitoba Association of School Superintendents and the education department.

The decision on whether to suspend or cancel a teaching certificate is ultimately up to the minister of education. If the minister cancels a certificate, the decision is not made public.

Manitoba Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen's office declined repeated interview requests for this story.

The government spokesperson said if a teacher wants to resume work after their certificate has been suspended, conditions are identified that must be met before the educator appears before the certificate review committee, which can reinstate a certificate.

Those include confirming a person has been removed from the federal sex offender registry, providing a final report showing discharge from probation, a medical report confirming fitness to return to teaching and a new criminal record check.

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection wants the province to post discipline records online for transparency. St. Germain says the move would serve as a deterrent.

"It is less likely that individuals who are interested in engaging sexually with children are going to want to do it while they're a teacher if they know that these professional decisions may be made public, and their name would be made public."

She points to Ontario, which posts disciplinary records online as well as in a teaching publication, even if the matter wasn't criminal in nature.

"The publication of these decisions will help the public to have confidence that these sorts of incidents are being handled appropriately by the education system," said St. Germain.

Union opposed to posting records

The Manitoba Teachers' Society opposes posting disciplinary records online.

"We don't believe making teachers' disciplinary records [public] would serve the public interest nor that of our members," president James Bedford said in a statement.

"Almost all the cases our MTS committee deals with are not egregious cases such as sexual assault. Those cases are heard in a court of law — in a very public process — with media usually reporting on them."

The strongest advocates for the protection of children in schools are teachers, he said.

"Criminal violations of the trust of children in our schools are reprehensible," Bedford said in his statement, adding the teachers' society is committed to professional conduct and ethics.

The union represents about 16,000 teachers and provides a lawyer for members in court when they've been charged with a criminal offence related to their employment as a teacher.

Bedford said the union has the authority to receive, review and resolve complaints about the misconduct of a teacher reported by a colleague or a member of the public.

A government spokesperson said when a teacher's certificate is suspended or cancelled in Manitoba, other jurisdictions are made aware.

But St. Germain said that still leaves the opportunity for a former teacher to go on to work with kids in another capacity outside the school system, or outside the country.

"Yes, that person can't be a teacher anymore," she said.

But they could end up working with children, "maybe in a daycare, maybe in a camp environment, a sporting environment — because that background as a teacher is going to look really good on a resume."

The father of the high school student who was assaulted echoes St. Germain's call for making discipline records public.

He said he was shocked his son's assault didn't come up on the list of teacher misconduct cases provided to CBC, and wonders if the education minister was ever made aware of it.

"I think it should be publicized more, so that everybody's made aware of what has happened, how it has happened and so that everybody knows the truth."