Ontario College of Teachers v Lafortune, 2012 ONOCT 19

DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE OF THE ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS

Citation: Ontario College of Teachers v Lafortune, 2012 ONOCT 19

Date: 2012-11-16

IN THE MATTER OF the Ontario College of Teachers Act and Ontario Regulation 437/97;

AND IN THE MATTER OF a discipline proceeding against Yves Joseph George Lafortune, a member of the Ontario College of Teachers.

PANEL: Monika Ferenczy, OCT, Chair

Robert Gagné

Louis Sloan, OCT

BETWEEN: ) )

) Christine Lonsdale,

ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS ) McCarthy Tétrault LLP,

) for Ontario College of Teachers

• and - )

) Yves Joseph George Lafortune

) was not present nor was he

) represented by counsel

YVES JOSEPH GEORGE LAFORTUNE )

(CERTIFICATE #513274) )

) Paul Marshall,

) Emond Harnden LLP,

) Independent Legal Counsel ) ) Heard: November 12, 2012

REASONS FOR DECISION, DECISION AND ORDER

This matter came on for hearing before a panel of the Discipline Committee (the "Committee") on November 12, 2012 at the Ontario College of Teachers (the "College") at Toronto.

A Notice of Hearing, dated August 23, 2012, was served on Yves Joseph George Lafortune requesting his attendance before the Discipline Committee of the Ontario College of Teachers on September 17, 2012 to set a date for a hearing. The hearing was subsequently set for November 12, 2012.

Mr. Lafortune was not in attendance at the hearing nor was he represented by legal counsel.

AFFIDAVIT

Counsel for the College submitted an Affidavit by Annie Lacroix (sworn on November 9, 2012), a litigation paralegal with McCarthy Tétrault LLP, Counsel for the College, in which the Member confirmed that he received the correspondence and documents in this matter, that he was aware that the hearing was to take place on November 12, 2012, and that the College was seeking to revoke his Certificate. He further confirmed that he had no intention of attending at the hearing and that he took no position on this matter.

ALLEGATIONS

The allegations against Yves Joseph Georges Lafortune in the Notice of Hearing (Exhibit 1), dated August 23, 2012, are as follows:

IT IS ALLEGED that Yves Joseph Georges Lafortune is guilty of professional misconduct as defined in subsections 30(2) and 40(1.1) of the Ontario College of Teachers Act (the "Act") in that:

(a) he failed to maintain the standards of the profession, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(5);

(b) he abused one or more students verbally, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(7);

(c) he abused one or more students physically, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(7.1);

(d) he abused one or more students psychologically or emotionally, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(7.2);

(e) he abused one or more students sexually, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(7.3), or abused one or more students sexually as set out in section 1 of the Act;

(f) he failed to comply with the Education Act, Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990, chapter E.2, specifically, section 264(1)(c) of the Act, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(15);

(g) he contravened a law if the contravention is relevant to the member's suitability to hold a certificate of qualification and registration, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(16);

(h) he contravened a law if the contravention has caused or may cause a student who is under the member's professional supervision to be put at or to remain at risk, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(17);

(i) he committed acts that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(18); and

(j) he displayed conduct unbecoming a member, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, section 1(19).

PARTICULARS OF THESE ALLEGATIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. Yves Joseph Georges Lafortune ("the Member") is a member of the College, but his Certificate of Qualification and Registration has been suspended for non-payment of dues.

2. At all material times the Member was employed by the Conseil scolaire des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est as a teacher. During the 2009-2010 school year, the Member was teaching at [XX] in Orleans.

3. The Member's conduct demonstrated a lack of professionalism in that:

(a) between April 13 and May 27, 2010, he was in possession of child pornography;

(b) between April 13 and May 21, 2010, he distributed child pornography;

(c) between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2007, he touched the body of Child "No. 1," a girl under the age of 14 years, with his hands, for a sexual purpose;

(d) between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, he touched the body of Child "No. 2," a girl under the age of 14 years, with his hands, for a sexual purpose;

(e) between January 1 and May 25, 2010, he touched the body of Child "No. 3," a girl under the age of 16 years, with his hands, for a sexual purpose;

(f) between January 1 and May 25, 2010, he touched the body of Child "No. 4," a girl under the age of 16 years, with his hands, for a sexual purpose.

4. On December 13, 2010, the Member pleaded guilty to two charges; to wit:

(a) between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2007, in the City of Timmins, for a sexual purpose, he touched directly, with a part of his body, the bodies of Child "No. 1" and Child "No. 2," persons under the age of 14 years, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada, section 151; and

(b) between January 1 and May 25, 2010, in the City of Ottawa, in the Eastern Region, for a sexual purpose, he touched directly, with a part of his body; to wit, his hands, the bodies of Child "No. 3" and Child "No. 4," persons under the age of 16 years, contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada, section 151.

5. On March 14, 2011, the Member pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

6. On April 11, 2011, the Member was found guilty of the charges set out in paragraphs 4 and 5 and sentenced to 54 months of imprisonment.

ORDER RESTRICTING PUBLICATION

An order restricting the publication or dissemination of the deliberations of the Ontario Court of Justice in Her Majesty the Queen v. Yves Joseph George Lafortune was handed down pursuant to section 486.4 of the Criminal Code of Canada. The Committee is required to comply with and uphold this order, and therefore prohibits the publication of information that could identify the victims.

MEMBER'S PLEA

Given that the Member was not in attendance at the hearing nor was he represented by legal counsel, the Committee continued with the proceedings on the assumption that the Member denied the allegations set out in the Notice of Hearing. The Chair of the Committee filed a plea of not guilty of the allegations on the Member's behalf, in his absence.

EVIDENCE

In order to uphold the order restricting publication and to protect the identities of the minor children who were victims of the Member's acts, the Committee moved in camera. In accordance with Rules 13.03 and 13.04 of the Rules of Procedure of the Discipline Committee and of the Fitness to Practise Committee (the "Rules"), Counsel for the College submitted a case-book in the criminal proceedings against the Member, entitled Case-Book, Her Majesty the Queen v. Yves Lafortune (Exhibit 4).

The case-book contained documents in both French and English, including the following documents which are identified in the Table of Contents and divided by means of the following tabs:

A. Certified copy of the Member's Court Information and Appearance – from May 25 to November 15, 2010

B. Trial transcript –December 13, 2010

C. Sentencing transcript – March 15, 2011

D. Certified copy of the Member's Court Information and Appearance – from July 14, 2010 to April 11, 2011

E. Sentencing transcript – April 11, 2011.

Following the presentation by Counsel for the College, who drew the Committee members' attention to specific documents in this case-book, the Committee members noted some relevant items:

• On Monday, December 13, 2010, the Member pleaded guilty to sexual touching of persons under the age of 16 years.

• On March 14, 2011, the Member pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

• On April 11, 2011, the Member was found guilty of the aforementioned charges and sentenced to 54 months of imprisonment.

The evidence contained in the court documents confirms that the Member was found guilty of sexual touching of four girls aged [XX] to [XX] years, and guilty of possession of an extensive collection of child pornography.

DECISION

(i) Burden of proof and evidentiary standard

It falls to the College to prove the allegations in accordance with the standard of civil proof, that is, the balance of probability.

(ii) Decision

Having examined the Exhibits filed, and based on the evidence and the submissions made by College Counsel, the Committee finds that the facts support a finding of professional misconduct and finds Yves Joseph Georges Lafortune guilty of professional misconduct, being more particularly breaches of Ontario Regulation 437/97, sections 1(5), 1(7), 1(7.1), 1(7.2), 1(7.3), 1(15), 1(16), 1(17), 1(18) and 1(19). The Committee further finds that the Member abused one or more students sexually as set out in section 1 of the Act.

REASONS FOR DECISION Pursuant to Rules 13.03 and 13.04 of the Rules, the Committee accepts as proof that a person has committed an offence when that person has been convicted and sentenced by a Canadian court, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, and no appeal has been granted. There is no evidence in this matter that contradicts the finding of guilt, and no appeal has been submitted.

Accordingly, based on the evidence submitted at the hearing, the fact that the Member was found guilty of possession of child pornography and sexual touching of persons under the age of 16 years is sufficient to prove that the Member is guilty of the offences thereby constituting the acts of professional misconduct set out in Ontario Regulation 437/97, sections 1(5), 1(7), 1(7.1), 1(7.2), 1(7.3), 1(15), 1(16), 1(17), 1(18) and 1(19).

PENALTY

Submission by College Counsel

Counsel for the College submitted that the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration should be revoked and his name should subsequently be published in Professionally Speaking/Pour parler profession, as provided for in the summary.

PENALTY DECISION

The Discipline Committee makes the following order as to penalty:

1. The College Registrar is directed to revoke the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, effective immediately.

2. In accordance with paragraph 3 of subsection 30(5) of the Act, the finding and the order of the Committee and the Member's name in full are to be published in summary in the College's official publication, Professionally Speaking/Pour parler profession.

REASONS FOR PENALTY DECISION

In the Committee's estimation, the Member's acts constitute professional misconduct.

The Committee took aggravating factors into account. The case at issue involved four young victims. Furthermore, the sexual touching of these children took place on a number of occasions, over a number of years. It is also known that all of the victims were young girls between the ages of [XX] and [XX] years, and that according to the medical evidence, the Member demonstrates pedophiliac tendencies.

In the Committee's estimation, the Member's acts, that is, sexually assaulting children, are among the most reprehensible acts a member of society can commit. The Member's conduct is considered repugnant both by members of the teaching profession and by the public.

In the Committee's estimation, the number of photographs (1,400 images) and videos (58) of child pornography found on the Member's computer constitute an additional aggravating factor. The content in this collection is also of concern. Some of the videos depicted a high level of violence. Some of the photographs depicted very young children. Child pornography is one of the most serious crimes in our society. The public needs to know that such activity engaged in by a member of the teaching profession will incur the most serious consequences.

In view of the nature of the conviction and the need for protection of children, the Committee considers it appropriate to revoke the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, in order to ensure that he will never teach again.

Clearly, in cases such as these the principles of general and individual dissuasion are vital. The publication of the decision will have a deterrent effect on members of the teaching profession and will inform the public that such conduct will not be tolerated and will result in the revocation of teacher certification.

With respect to publication, the Committee is in agreement with the publication of the Member's name and a summary of this decision in the College's official publication, Professionally Speaking/Pour parler profession.

In conclusion, the Committee is satisfied that the penalty serves the interests of the public and of the teaching profession, and condemns such conduct.

Date: November 16, 2012

Monika Ferenczy, OCT

Chair, Discipline Panel

Robert Gagné

Member, Discipline Panel

Louis Sloan, OCT

Member, Discipline Panel