Prison sentence for ‘reprehensible’ sexual seduction of youths by Windsor teacher

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A Windsor high school student, confused about his sexual orientation, approached the teacher he trusted most for help. This person, in a position of trust and authority, responded with sexually explicit advice, photos and disturbing videos that a jury found criminal.

“I was very vulnerable, insecure about my sexuality. I felt comfortable (approaching his drama teacher, who he knew was gay), and you took advantage of that,” the former student said in a victim impact statement read out at a High Court sentencing hearing on Monday.

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After a trial in April, a 12-member jury found Ryan Turgeon, a former religion and drama teacher at Catholic Central High School, guilty of sexual exploitation of a child — described in court as “luring” — and making sexual material available to a person under 18.

The defense agreed with the prosecution that the most “extremely explicit” act was the teacher sending the youth a video of himself performing oral sex on another man.

The victim, who cannot be identified due to a court ban, was 16 and 17 years old at the time of the incident and was in Grade 12 in 2017. Turgeon was charged in April 2021 following an investigation by the Windsor Police Service’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit.

If you ever need experience I’ll show you

After his arrest, Turgeon was fired from his teaching job and has been living under bail conditions ever since. Jurors in last spring’s trial found Turgeon, now 39, not guilty on four additional charges related to alleged sex crimes involving a second male accuser.

After hearing arguments from the prosecution and defense on Monday, District Court Judge Brian Dube said he will announce his verdict on January 21.

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Assistant District Attorney Jayme Lesperance argued for “a significant prison sentence” and said the court “had an important obligation to send a strong message: parents can count on their children’s safety at school.”

The Windsor student, a teenager who was struggling with whether he himself was gay, reached out to Turgeon. Lesperance said the teacher’s response was, “If you ever need experience, I’ll show you.” Shared videos included explicit images of the teacher “playing with himself.”

The victim was living in a group home at the time and there was no physical contact between the two. But Lesperance told the court that such abuses by a teacher, coach or other trusted person would cause “significant and long-lasting harm” to the victim.

Seven years later, Turgeon’s former student wrote to the court that he “still lives every day” with the psychological damage caused by being exploited at a vulnerable time.

Lesperance, citing case law describing such child abuse by a teacher as “truly reprehensible” and harmful, said the prosecution was seeking a three-year prison sentence.

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He said a message from the court of deterrence and denunciation to others in positions of trust in the community was important, with teachers “playing a special role in the lives of young people – second only to parents.”

Huge stigma and notoriety

Turgeon’s attorney argued against a prison sentence (a sentence of more than two years to be served in a federal prison) and in favor of a shorter sentence of 12 to 18 months, followed by probation.

“Any prison…will have a powerful deterrent effect,” said Paul Socka.

The judge asked the Crown for its thoughts on a sentence of less than two years, which would then also allow the court to impose a probation period of up to three years. That would extend the oversight of the justice system, with Dube explaining that it would make the total sentence “potentially five years.”

Turgeon’s attorney said his client, who had no criminal record, “frankly” will never teach again and “will never return to the environment where this happened.” Socka said Turgeon has found other work and has a lot of family support (his parents and other family members were in court this week for the hearing).

The media coverage and publicity surrounding the case in the community has led to “tremendous stigmatization and notoriety” for his client, Socka said, adding that this was “understandable.”

The prosecution is also seeking a DNA warrant, which would require a blood sample to be taken from Turgeon and entered into a police database used to solve crimes. The prosecution is also seeking to have the ex-teacher’s name placed on the Canadian Sex Offenders Registry for 20 years.

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