Former Kelowna student sues school district for alleged historic sexual assault

A man who attended a Kelowna high school in the 1990s claims he was sexually assaulted by one of his teachers and is suing the school district for damages, alleging it knew and did nothing to stop it.

A Notice of Claim filed on behalf of the man in B.C. Supreme Court last month states he was preyed upon, groomed and sexually assaulted by a teacher working for Central Okanagan Public Schools in 1996 and 1997.

The names of the plaintiff and the female teacher he’s accusing of assault are being withheld due to the nature of the allegations.

The aforementioned wrongful acts, according to the court document, occurred on a repeated basis, increasing in frequency, nature, and intensity for the duration of their interaction.

“Throughout the period of time that the aforementioned abuse was occurring, the perpetrator used her position of authority and trust, also the fact that the plaintiff was a young child, to ensure that the plaintiff did not tell anyone about her wrongdoing,” reads the court document.

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“In order to facilitate abuses, the perpetrator engaged in a pattern of behaviour which was intended to make the plaintiff feel that it was unsafe to report the wrongdoings of the perpetrator. This amounted to the willful or negligent inflicting of pain and suffering, mental suffering, humiliation, and degradation and interfered with the plaintiff’s normal childhood and future relationships solely for the purpose of her own gratification.”

The school district, according to the court document, owed the student protection from the teacher, particularly when it came to “wrongdoings of a sexual nature” according to the court document.

Further, the man alleges that the school district knew the teacher was allegedly assaulting the student and took no corrective action, failing to report the act to police.

“It continued to employ the perpetrator despite knowing she sexually assaulted the plaintiff,” reads the court document. The district also failed to document, discipline and terminate the teacher despite apparent shortcomings, it states.

“(It) fostered a system, based on the rules and principles of the defendant, whereby the reporting of such deviant sexual behaviour of the perpetrator would be considered not be wrong and would result in retaliation,” the claim states.

The court document goes on to state that the district failed to give guidance to its employees, particularly the teacher in question, didn’t screen them or monitor their character and sexual activity. And it didn’t warn students about the alleged propensities of the teacher and ultimately didn’t protect the student.

“In addition to, and in the alternative to the above, the defendant owed and breached a special duty to the plaintiff by virtue of its relationship with the plaintiff, to counsel, guide and render assistance to the plaintiff once it became aware of the perpetrator’s behaviors,” the court document reads.

In the years that have followed, the man claims to have suffered post-traumatic stress, shame, guilt, low self esteem and feelings of worthlessness, among other things.

The allegations in the suit have yet to be proven in court.