Sexually charged text messages, viewing child pornography and touching female students during gym class — in years gone by these resulted in a suspension by Ontario’s teacher regulator and an order that the teacher take boundary counselling. Sometimes, the teacher was transferred to another school.
But following a retroactive look through hundreds of discipline cases, the Ontario College of Teachers has officially revoked the licences of 28 teachers, some from the past few years, others from cases 10 or 20 years ago. Many were no longer practising teachers, according to the college. At least five were.
Below, using information from discipline hearings of the Ontario College of Teachers, are the names and a summary of the findings for the 28 members whose licences were revoked on Dec. 8, 2020 following a new Ontario law which mandates that any educator disciplined for sexually abusive conduct or child pornography receive a lifetime ban from teaching. Sexual contact was not necessary for a finding of sexual abuse.
In each case presented here, the Star has provided a link to the college’s discipline finding. Click on the last name to be taken to the OCT discipline document.
The information below is drawn from the Ontario College of Teachers discipline decisions, which are available to the public on the college’s website. In the information released by the college Tuesday, they have noted “non practising” beside 23 of the 28 revocations, meaning that to the best of the Ontario College’s knowledge and as of 2020, the teacher was no longer teaching. The Star has placed “NP” as a notation beside those teachers. In some cases, particularly the older ones, it appears they resigned years ago — but the college is now adopting a zero tolerance stance and officially revoking their licence.
Richard S. Buckley — A teacher at the Bluewater District School Board north of Walkerton, Buckley had been transferred after being found guilty in court of criminally harassing a colleague in 2009, and pleaded guilty to psychologically and sexually abusing a student at a 2016 disciplinary hearing. According to an agreed statement of facts, Buckley texted his student that he wanted to see her naked, asked if her boyfriend had seen her naked, and asked for a photograph of her breasts. At the time, the college gave him a two-year license suspension and coursework. NP
Richard Donald Lorne Burdett — Burdett taught at a Toronto arts school. Following a parent complaint it was discovered that he “spooned” with female students on international trips and sent 1,300 sexually charged texts to one female student, including one text where he said he had a dream of performing oral sex on her. He received a one-year suspension from teaching in 2011, for allegations that surfaced in the 2006-07 school year.
Dina Calautti — In 2010, a Discipline Committee panel ordered the suspension of Brampton teacher Dina Calautti’s teaching certificate for a year because she initiated sexually explicit and inappropriate electronic communication with a 16-year-old male student. Calautti had earlier plead guilty in 2008 to a charge of “internet luring.” Court heard there was no sexual contact; and Calautti was remorseful. Calautti was ordered to take a course on “boundaries.”
Andrew Stuart Campbell — A discipline panel determined Stuart “used sexualized and abusive language toward students and inappropriate teaching materials for school-aged children” between the years 2006-08. According to the panel, his behaviour “was unchanged despite multiple warnings, suspensions, counselling and transfer to another school.” In its 2014 decision, Campbell was given a two-month suspension and ordered to take anger management counselling.
Wendy Joy Champion — In a 2016 hearing, a Kenora-area teacher was suspended for five days, then for nine months, for sending “inappropriate text messages” to two students and supplying one of them with a 26-ounce bottle of whiskey. In the decision, there is no mention of sexual conduct. NP
Peter John Emery — In a 2006 decision following an agreed statement of facts, Emery, a Simcoe County School Board teacher, was found to have touched the “abdomens, knees or legs while they were performing sit ups” of several female students, and to have made sexual jokes to students. The decision states that Emery agreed never to teach again; his licence was not revoked until 2020. NP
Dale Fisher — In a 2004 decision, the college disciplined Fisher for distributing child pornography. He had earlier plead guilty (2003) to two counts of distributing child pornography (from an internet chat room to male adults) and ordered to do 200 hours of community service. The college handed him a 22-month suspension in 2004. Three medical practitioners testified at the college hearing that Fisher was not a pedophile and not a danger to the public or minors. NP
Victor Damien French — A London-area teacher was suspended for four months in 2016 related to allegations of “inappropriate behaviour and comments of sexual nature” to fellow teachers and in front of students. He was also ordered to complete a course on boundary violations. NP
Keith Stephen Garebian — In 2002, Garebian, a Mississauga-area teacher, was disciplined for taking a 14-year-old male student to his home to view pornographic movies. According to an agreed statement of facts, Garebian agreed to resign. His teaching licence was not revoked though until 2020, despite his resignation. NP
Peter David Giaschi — In 2016, the college suspended for two months a Hastings and Prince Edward School Board teacher for a series of inappropriate actions over a number of years. Among them, telling a drama student to lie on the floor to perform a monologue and pretend she was having “the best orgasm of her life”; frequently used crude language to students; posted “inappropriate comments” about school administrators on Facebook. NP
Stephen Robert Guerin — In 2004, following a criminal case in which he pleaded guilty to possessing 4,000 child pornography images, the Peterborough-area teacher agreed to never teach again in Ontario. In one of two criminal cases, which included a finding of carrying a concealed firearm, Guerin was sentenced to 13 months in jail. At his college hearing, it was heard that he used a fake name to obtain his teaching licence. NP
Philip Louis King (or Roy) — A kindergarten teacher licensed in Ontario but teaching in Hong Kong, King was found by the college to be guilty of professional misconduct for using a school laptop to access adult, teenage and pre-teen pornography. King argued before the panel that he had not done this during school hours and no student had witnessed it. He was suspended for two years.
Luc Bernard Lemieux — A teacher at the Conseil scolaire Viamonde, which has schools in Toronto and Welland, was suspended for 18 months in 2015 for a pattern of speaking to students over a six-year period that the college describes as being of a “sexual nature.” According to an agreed statement of facts, Lemieux would comment on his students’ breasts, commenting “as long as they’re big enough for a handful and small enough for a mouthful,” offered a girl alcohol at his home, told girls he loved them, and gave students gifts of silver necklaces and bouquets of roses.
Craig James Lusk — In 2018, Lusk, a Sudbury-area teacher, was suspended for six months for what the college described as “sexually abusive conduct.” According to the discipline panel that made the finding, Lusk “repeatedly rubbed a student’s upper thigh on the back of her leg above her knee” over a period of a year and a half. The panel said Lusk singled the student out from among her peers and repeatedly “lashed” out at her. NP
Peter McLeod (or Morgan) — In 2001, McLeod (who also goes by Morgan according to the college) was found to have (in an agreed statement of facts) been “abusing a student physically, sexually, verbally, psychologically or emotionally.” The panel also found that he was marking female students more generously than males. NP
Geoffrey James Orton — A teacher in a Hamilton-area school, Orton was disciplined for leering at the cleavage of female students on numerous occasions, and repeatedly leaving his class unsupervised, and for not intervening immediately when students set trash cans on fire in the classroom. Orton had been previously suspended for eight months. The college decision states that his licence to teach was to be revoked in 2019. It was revoked in 2020. NP
Anthony John Park — Park taught in the Durham Catholic District School Board, and was transferred to a new school after being accused of inappropriate interactions with two female students on a field trip — a decision the board hoped would amount to a “fresh start,” according to comments from a board superintendent cited in a disciplinary decision. Four years later, Park was fired from the Durham board after making continued sexual comments towards his students. He received a three-month suspension in 2012. NP
David MacDonald Peckham — The York Region-area teacher was suspended for 18 months in 1999 after he plead guilty in criminal court to what the college termed “sexual exploitation” of a student. The panel decision stated that Peckham had an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old student and sent her “inappropriate electronic mail.” NP
Jeffery David Rafael — In a 2018 decision, Rafael, a Windsor-area teacher, was found guilty by a discipline panel for inappropriately touching a student and for bringing drugs onto school property, keeping marijuana cigarettes in his van which, the panel found, he knew students had access to. He was suspended for 12 months. NP
David Arthur Rosewell — The Guelph-area teacher was suspended for six months in 2017 for sending “sexually suggestive and/or personal text messages and/or Facebook messages to current and/or former students. On some occasions, he sent the students messages while he was inebriated.” NP
Anthony Ross — In a 2020 decision, a discipline panel recommended that York Region-area teacher Ross’ teaching licence be revoked for squeezing a male students breasts and making sexually suggestive comments to the student. Ross had the year before been convicted in criminal court of touching the student’s forearm without his consent, according to the college discipline record. Earlier, in 2016, Ross was suspended for three months related to an incident in the mid 1990s when he had an inappropriate relationship with a male student, including holding the student’s hand during tutoring and telling the student he loved him. NP
Gregory Glynn Shafley — The Elliot Lake teacher was found guilty of professional misconduct in 2000 and reprimanded. No information related to the case on the college website. NP
George Siakotos — In 2006, Toronto teacher Siakotos was reprimanded for inappropriate behaviour towards a female Grade 12 student, including touching her hair and trying to kiss her, asking her personal questions and asking her not to tell anyone about the conversation, according to a discipline committee report. NP
Stephen Michael Spence — In 2016, the Waterloo-area teacher was suspended for harassing a female colleague and “inappropriate physical contact with a student,” which was described in the panel ruling as putting his arm around the student and kissing her neck. The incidents took place in 2012. NP
Joseph Manuel A. Strong — The Toronto grade school teacher was found guilty in 1998 of three counts of indecent assault involving touching eight and nine-year-old students at a school in 1967. Strong appealed, a new trial was ordered, but he had served the time ordered by the court (decision does not say how long) and the crown elected not to proceed with a new trial. The matter came before a discipline committee in 2002 and Strong agreed to give up his teaching licence. NP
William Douglas Walker — In 2001, the York Region teacher resigned his teaching licence after agreeing that he had behaved inappropriately with numerous students in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the case of one student, he had sex with the student 56 times on and off school property. He also purchased alcohol for students and explicit sexual material to students in a storage room. NP
Julia Ann Webb — The London-area teacher was suspended for one year following a 2005 discipline panel finding that she had a sexual relationship with an 18-year old male student in 1994. NP
Ross Lauchlin Wood — The Peel District School Board teacher retired after a finding in 2002 of “abusing a student physically, sexually, verbally, psychologically or emotionally.” Wood had the year before been convicted in criminal court and given a conditional discharge for “touching for a sexual purpose” a female student. NP
- Kevin Donovan, Chief Investigative Reporter, Victoria Gibson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Toronto Star, Local Journalism Initiative
