The Member, a teacher, faced allegations of professional misconduct for allegedly mistreating a special needs child during a behavioural outburst at a respite centre.
The incident was captured on video by a co-worker.
The College alleged verbal, physical, psychological, and emotional abuse.
During the hearing, the Committee ruled on several evidentiary issues, refusing to admit hearsay evidence from the co-worker who recorded the video and refusing to admit expert evidence proposed by the Member.
After reviewing the video and hearing testimony, the Committee found that the College failed to prove the allegations on a balance of probabilities.
The Committee accepted the Member's explanations that his actions, while perhaps not best practices, were attempts to de-escalate and manage the child's behaviour, not abuse.
