Teacher jailed two years for relationship with teen student

Jennifer Marie Mason, 30

A former Calgary Catholic school teacher has been sentenced to two years in federal prison and must be registered as a sex offender for 20 years after she pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation for an illicit sexual affair with a teenage male student last year.

Provincial court Judge Sean Dunnigan meted out the sentence to Jennifer Marie Mason, 30, on Tuesday after accepting a joint submission by Crown prosecutor Vicki Faulkner and defence lawyer Simon Lord.

The boy, who was 14 when the relationship began and 16 when it was discovered and reported to police, declined to be a part of the process and said he was not victimized, Faulkner told court.

“He said if Mason was sentenced to jail, he’d go to jail for her,” said Faulkner.

Nevertheless, Dunnigan called the relationship between the teacher and boy “unacceptable, illegal and damaging” and the victim will come to realize that some day.

“This is not a victimless crime. There are victims: family, the community, friends, yourself, many victims,” Dunnigan said.

“It comes out here when there is a breach of trust and grooming, insinuation into the life of the student and family. That damage may not have come out yet, but it will. It may be a slow, ticking bomb, but it ticks.”  (more...)

Teacher jailed two years for relationship with teen student