Former teacher convicted of luring student sentenced to 16 months

Kennard, who was the boy’s Grade 6 teacher at Dundonald Elementary School in 2008, was fired from his job in 2013. He was arrested in August 2013.

He testified that he was in a troubled relationship and heavily using marijuana when he unknowingly exchanged messages with a police officer posing as the boy on Facebook. Kennard asked who he thought was his former student if he could perform oral sex on him; when the undercover officer said no, the ex-teacher asked for a picture of the boy’s genitals.

Kennard testified that he never engaged in sexual conversations with the boy until after what he believed to be the victim’s 18th birthday. In May 2013, he said he asked the boy when he turned 18 and the boy replied “in a couple of weeks.” The alleged victim denies that response, but there is no evidence of the conversation because both he and Kennard deleted the alleged Facebook messages.

The boy’s birthday was in fact that month, but he was turning 16 years old.

The judge said it didn’t make sense for Kennard to suddenly forget how old the boy was after only two years of not seeing him. If the boy was 18 years old in 2013, that means he would have been 12 or 13 in Grade 6 when he was Kennard’s student.

The accused said he was not aware of the boy being held back a grade.

-with files from News Talk Radio’s Bre McAdam

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @kellygermalone

by Kelly Malone

Former teacher convicted of luring student sentenced to 16 months

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