Former Saskatoon teacher guilty of child luring

Warning: Some people may find parts of this story disturbing

Watch above: A Saskatoon teacher has been convicted of attempting to lure a male student via the internet. Joel Senick has details on the judge’s ruling.

SASKATOON – Former Saskatoon school teacher Jayson Kennard has been found guilty of luring a past student in an attempt to possess and create child porn. Kennard, 40, heard the verdict in a Saskatoon court room Wednesday morning.

Sentencing will take place May 4 after the defence commissions a pre-sentencing report, which is expected to take weeks.

Kennard was arrested and charged with child luring in 2013 after sending explicit messages on Facebook to a former student, who was 16-years-old at the time and cannot be named. Kennard taught the boy at Dundonald Elementary School and encountered him in subsequent years before the messaging started in November 2012.

BACKGROUND: Saskatoon teacher out on bail after being charged with child luring

In his decision, Justice Geoffrey Dufor described the conversation as “pedestrian” at first, before Kennard made comments pertaining to the boy’s physique at the time. During the trial, the boy testified that Kennard called him “sexy” and “cute.”

Months later, Kennard offered to perform oral sex on the boy, asked him to send a picture of his genitalia and participate in a video chat, leading to the luring charge.

At the time, the boys account had been taken over by a police officer.

Kennard reportedly testified that in May 2013 he asked the boy when he turned 18 and was told that the birthday would occur in the coming weeks. The boy denied responding in that manner and Dufor noted there was no way to resolve this dispute, since both parties had deleted the bulk of their Facebook messages.

In August 2013, the boy’s mother discovered messages from Kennard on her son’s Facebook account. She testified that Kennard asked her son to smoke marijuana with him and warned him that he may be masturbating before he arrived.

The boy and his mother reported the incident to police, which lead to an officer taking over the account and communicating with Kennard.

Dufor said he didn’t accept that Kennard was unaware the victim was under 18 at the time of the messaging. He described Kennard as a risk taker, who knew that if caught, he could lose his job, be charged with a crime and face a possible physical altercation with his partner at the time.

Kennard’s head dipped slightly while he stared forward during Dufor’s decision. After the verdict was read, the victim’s mother was seen hugging another attendee, while others in the court room wiped back tears.

The Crown prosecutor did not request that Kennard be taken into custody as he awaits sentencing. Kennard’s defence lawyer and the Crown both declined to speak to reporters following the verdict.