Lavergne, in his late 50s, argued that his 17-month jail sentence was unfit, but the Ontario Court of Appeal didn’t see it that way and dismissed his appeal this week.“With respect to children, even relatively unobtrusive touching can cause extensive psychological and emotional harm, notwithstanding that the harm to bodily integrity is at the lower end of the scale.
Lavergne wasn’t like the other teachers at St. Patrick’s High School. He showered his favourite students with gifts, met teen girls at the auto shop on weekends and offered them drives home. He exchanged cellphone numbers with students, sexualized conversations and gave out condoms to students. The girls were devastated. In an unsettling victim-impact statement filed in court, one girl said: “My dreams of being a mechanic have been washed away and left me unsure of myself and my future. I have spent months bedridden and cannot work, attempted suicide several times. My social life has deteriorated by fear of being judged by other classmates, the ones that I thought were my best friends, didn’t want to be seen with me and I became a laughingstock.
His other victim also filed a victim-impact statement: “At the time I felt very upset and disgusted with myself, I questioned: ‘Why me? What did I do to make him think it was OK to touch me?’ It made me feel dirty and angry. I changed my mannerisms in the sense that I felt I needed to act more like a tomboy and more masculine to avoid it from happening again. It created mistrust amongst myself and those who are in positions similar to yours.
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Source: TheTorontoSun - 🏆 23. / 68 Read more »