‘Sick and twisted’

A nude photo mistakenly sent to her mother in October was how the parents of an Immaculate Conception High School student say they found out that a male teacher at the all-girls’ institution was allegedly sexually involved with their 14-year-old daughter.

The teacher was arrested on Wednesday by investigators assigned to the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Centre for the Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA).

Last night, Acting Superintendent of Police Randy Sweeney, commanding officer for the St Andrew North Division, told The Gleaner that the teacher has been charged with having sexual intercourse with a person under 16.

Sweeney said, however, that the teacher’s name would not be disclosed “based on the nature of the investigation”.

The student’s father, who requested anonymity to protect the identity of his child as she is underage, told The Gleaner that further investigations by him and her mother had revealed that the inappropriate relationship between his daughter and the 34-year-old teacher began when she was only 13 years old.

“The last message he sent to her was ‘make sure you delete everything’, but she never did. She locked it away in a secret app, which we found,” the father said.

“We searched the phone. We found what we needed to find – all the nude videos and pictures and conversations,” he said.

Describing the teacher as a predator who groomed his daughter, the father said there were occasions when his daughter would go out with her mother, and the teacher would be parked in the same area, texting her.

Infuriated at the uncovering of the alleged sexual relationship between his child and the teacher, the father said the matter was reported to CISOCA in November.

The father said no report of the incident was made to Immaculate Conception High.

In a statement on Wednesday, the board of management at the St Andrew-based school said they were shocked and saddened by the teacher’s arrest.

“We were unaware of any allegations or issues prior to this incident, and like the rest of our community, were surprised by the news,” the board said.

They said further that they did not know the details surrounding the situation and were awaiting information as the investigation unfolded.

“As this investigation continues, the safety and well-being of our students remain our top priority. We are cooperating fully with the authorities to ensure all necessary measures are taken to protect our school community.”

However, based on what he garnered from his daughter’s phone, the father believes the evidence against the teacher is overwhelming and is hoping for a conviction.

“They have pictures, videos, and the whole nine yards … he is sick and twisted,” the father said.

A long-expected Jamaica Teaching Council bill, which will repeal certain provisions of the Education Regulations of 1980 and regulate the practice and professional conduct of teachers, is currently under review by a joint select committee of Parliament.

It is seeking to establish a governing body for the profession and institute a regime for the licensing and registration of all government-paid teachers.

The legislation will give the council the legal power to immediately suspend and cancel the registration of a teacher who has been charged with a disqualifiable offence, which would include sexual assault, murder, pornography, robbery, and fraud.

The proposed legislation will require teachers found in breach to pay a minimum fine of $500,000, plus serve a stipulated six-month sentence in prison.

In the meantime, the father said the ordeal had impacted his daughter mentally, but that she was doing much better after he sought counselling for her.

Despite efforts up to last night, The Gleaner was unable to get further details on the investigation from the police.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com