Former Vernon teacher sentenced for ‘degrading’ and violent historic sex assaults

A former Vernon, B.C., teacher who was found guilty of historic sexual offences was sentenced on Wednesday to three and a half years behind bars.

Anoop Singh Klair, 40, was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs upon delivery of the sentence.

Both his victims and his own family were there to see the case through to the end, and stayed silent throughout the final moments of the process, which B.C. Supreme Court Justice Murray Blok acknowledged came at the tail end of years of suffering.

“The (victims) endured such things as depression, anxiety, loss of self-worth, inability to form relationships with others, even recurrent thoughts of suicide,” he said.

“All of which they kept to themselves (until recently).”

Their suffering, he said, amply demonstrates the enormous psychological damage of the sex crimes Klair committed.

Klair was found guilty in May of eight sexual offence charges, including sexual interference of a child and sexual assault with a weapon for crimes against four children between the ages of nine and 13. The sexual assaults took place between 1999 and 2003 before Klair was employed as a teacher.

At the time of offences, he was between the ages of 19 and 23 and in at least two instances he used a weapon and in others took advantage of being in a position of trust.

These two more serious charges alone carry maximum sentences of 10 and 14 years, respectively. Blok said that while they did not require such significant sentences, Klair’s actions toward the children he molested were violent and “degrading” enough to not go the way of a conditional sentence, as proposed by defence attorney Nicholas Jacob.

Blok also didn’t meet the five- to seven-year prison sentence proposed by the Crown, noting that Klair had no prior criminal record, he was relatively young at the time of the crimes and he now has a wife and child of his own, and has lost his livelihood in recent years.

In addition to prison time, Klair must also serve 10 years on probation and has a five-year prohibition on being near parks or places with children. He must also submit a DNA sample and be placed on the national sex offender registry.