A former BC teacher has been found guilty of professional misconduct after being caught sending inappropriate messages to female Grade 7 students while employed at an independent school in West Vancouver.
Jeffery Mooney was employed at the school in 2021 when the misconduct occurred. According to the decision, he relinquished his certificate that October.
A panel for the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation found that a series of emails and online messages were efforts by the teacher “to establish a personal relationship with the students and the sexual innuendo in some of the messages raises the spectre of grooming,” said a decision issued Sept. 17.
“The Respondent ignored his responsibilities to the affected students by communicating with them on personal matters such as their crushes and their sexual experience. He attempted to prompt them into sexualized topics causing discomfort for the students,” the decision said.
The decision also added that the former teacher engaged in gossip about other students, his own colleagues, lied about owning a condo in an effort impress a student, used profane language and asked the four female students not to tell anyone about the messages.
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A hearing on the matter was held on June 11, 2024. The decision said Mooney did not attend.
The panel said he was served with a citation, notice of the hearing and affidavits, which were sent to his last known address but returned as “undeliverable.”
The commissioner also engaged the services of a “skip tracer” to determine his whereabouts but were unsuccessful in locating him.
The first instance of misconduct with Student A happened in or about June and July of 2021, which is the same month Mooney entered into an “improvement plan.”
According to the decision, those messages were sent over Google Chat, and often happened late at night, and included Mooney making sexual references and innuendo, comments about the teacher and other students and advising her not to screenshot to her friends because he could get fired.
“On June 23, 2021, at approximately 11:42 p.m., in response to Student A saying ‘COCKADOODLEDOO,’ the Respondent said ‘Cock lol’. Student A responded with ‘EW WEIRDO,’” the decision summarized.
In another message exchange with Student A, Mooney said adults are “the best” because “we can drive and drink and buy shit and have sex and do alllll the fun stuff.” In that same message, the teacher references Cardi B’s song "WAP."
After that message the student reportedly implied she would screenshot the messages and send them to his friends to which Mooney responded with “don’t though” and “But actually don’t I don’t want to get fired.”
According to the panel’s decision, Mooney was “clearly aware that his communications with the four students were inappropriate.”
Conversations with Student B included lies about the condo he claimed to own, gossip about another teacher’s alleged sex jokes, and asking the student to keep the conversations “confidential.”
Mooney also asked more than once if the girl had a crush on someone to which she replied “I like myself.” Mooney responded with “I like you too.”
Messages between Mooney and Student C were similar with him pressing for her to tell him who she had a crush on, telling her to keep the conversations private and included several instances of profanity.
According to the decision, Mooney gave Student D his Instagram profile and they ended up following each other. The decision saw evidence that Mooney thought her account would be “more inappropriate” and was “disappointed” when it was not.
He told the young female student: “I follow only dirty sh*t though I don’t post it so don’t expect that” followed by “I probably shouldn’t talk like that with you.”
All the Google Chat messages were retrieved by the Director of InformationTechnology at the school.
“The inescapable conclusion reached by this panel is that the respondent knowingly used his position of trust in an attempt to form a personal relationship with the students beyond that of an educator and student,” the decision said.
Now that the panel has found Mooney guilty of professional misconduct, they can impose a penalty.
That may include a reprimand or suspension, having limits or conditions placed on his teaching certificate if it were reinstated or a complete cancellation of the certificate.
