TORONTO – Ontario teachers found guilty of sexually touching a student will now automatically lose their licence.
The provincial government has amended the legislation that regulates teachers, broadening the scope of when their licenses must be revoked.
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Previously, the Ontario College of Teachers would only automatically revoke licences when members were found by the disciplinary committee to be guilty of certain types of sexual abuse: sexual intercourse, masturbation, and genital-to-genital, genital-to-anal, oral-to-genital, or oral-to-anal contact.
It also automatically revokes their licenses when teachers engage in acts involving child pornography.
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Tuesday’s amendment adds “touching of a sexual nature of the student’s genitals, anus, breasts or buttocks” to that list.
A statement from the Ministry of Education says the legislation aligns standards for teachers with those for health professionals.