| August 13, 2005 Teacher charged in sex case Man accused of exploiting a 15-year-old female student on school property Kelly Patrick Windsor Star A teacher at Vincent Massey high school is facing criminal charges after he allegedly had sex with one of his 15-year-old female students on school property. Police arrested Thomas Powers, 49, Wednesday. He was arraigned the same day on one count of sexual exploitation, said Staff Sgt. Dale Walker. The parents of the victim say their daughter is "devastated." They say that although the sex was consensual, it happened only twice. "This was a person we trusted," said her mother. "You let your child go to school and you think they're OK. She was definitely not OK." The legal age of sexual consent in Canada is 14. However, the sexual exploitation section of the Criminal Code allows police to charge authority figures, such as teachers, relatives or coaches, if they take advantage of teens between the ages of 14 and 18. Police allege Powers exploited the 15-year-old between June and August of this year. Powers wasn't scheduled to return to Massey in the fall. He'd already applied for a one-year leave of absence to teach English as a second language in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. He's set to depart Aug. 23. Following his Wednesday court appearance Powers was released on $15,000 bail with no provisions prohibiting him from leaving the country. "I understand he's innocent until proven guilty," said the girl's mother. "But the fact he can now go to another country and teach is very disturbing." Powers taught music and media arts at Massey from 1991 to 2003, said Mary Jean Gallagher, the director of education at the Greater Essex County District School Board. He took a year off to teach in Oman in 2003-04, but returned this year. "I've reviewed his personal file and there's nothing in his record to suggest this kind of behaviour," said Gallagher. She said the school board planned to conduct its own investigation into the allegations and to deliver word of the criminal charges to the Ontario College of Teachers. Power to discipline teachers The college has the power to discipline teachers who abuse their positions or run afoul of the law. Penalties can include revoking an educator's teaching certificate. "The board and myself are extremely distressed," said Gallagher. "If as this matter proceeds the allegations are found to be accurate it's clearly a serious breach of trust and something on a personal and professional level that I abhor." The girl's parents found out about the alleged incidents Sunday night. Told older brother Their daughter told an older brother's girlfriend, who in turn told her boyfriend and the rest of the 15-year-old's siblings. Then all the children, including the victim, revealed it to their parents together. "(She) was so devastated they had to carry her into the house," said the girl's mother. "Everybody was crying. (She) was curled forward on the floor on her face. She could barely speak." Eventually the story's alleged details spilled out. The parents say they didn't know about any of this until Sunday. Before that, the girl told her parents that Powers was just a cool and funny media arts teacher and yearbook supervisor. They believe their daughter had a schoolgirl crush on her teacher and that she'd started to become interested in boys. She's never had a boyfriend, they said. The Star tried twice Friday to reach Powers at the LaSalle address listed in his court file. Nobody was home. His lawyer, Andrew Bradie, did not return calls placed Friday afternoon. http://www.canada.com/fortstjohn/story.html?id=139d3689-67d2-412c-bf05-ebdbb676bf1 0 |