A B.C. teacher who was found guilty of “egregious” professional misconduct will be stripped of his teaching credentials 40 years after first being accused of having sexual relations with three teenage students.
Robert John Robertson, now in his 60s, was a teacher at a Richmond high school in 1976 when he engaged in sexual activities with three girls who were 15 and 16 years old, according to a decision released this week by the B.C. Teacher Regulation Branch.
“His liaisons were not secret. He used his popularity and position to attract girls, going so far as to have sex with one in his school office,” the hearing panel wrote in its decision.
“His conduct was unethical and dishonest by any standard.”
Robertson had a relationship with one 15-year-old on a school-sponsored Mediterranean cruise. Their sexual activity was common knowledge among other students on the cruise, and their relationship continued after the trip.
“In fact, during this period in 1976 the evidence is that many teenage girls actually vied for his attentions and that he relished that,” the decision says.
Other teachers knew or suspected what was going on between Robertson and teenage girls under his supervision, and at least one confronted him with no result.
The parents of one student approached police with their concerns but chose not to support criminal charges against the teacher.
Later in 1976, the Richmond School Board began an investigation of Robertson’s activities and suspended him, but he resigned his position and applied for a job in Vancouver. For some reason, nothing further happened with the school board investigation.
Then in 2005, one of his victims saw a newspaper photo of Robertson at a teachers’ strike rally.
“She had thought he had been disciplined by the Richmond School Board and that that period of her life was over and done with,” the panel wrote.
“She became distressed discovering that no disciplinary action had taken place at all.” (more...)
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