May 3, 2017

Ontario teacher guilty of misconduct for talking about sex and putting her legs behind her head in class

A Toronto Catholic District School Board religion teacher was found guilty of professional misconduct after her former students told a tribunal that she went on frequent sexually-laced tirades before demonstrating her flexibility in front of the class by putting her legs behind her head.

Leanora Brown did not appear in front of the three-person tribunal at the Ontario College of Teachers on Tuesday, but denied the allegations, including telling students about her sex life, her parents’ sex life and giving advice about what they should do in their own, in a letter to the school’s superintendent.

“I felt like she wasn’t qualified to be a teacher,” one student said before the tribunal. “That’s not something you’re supposed to say to a student in a religion class.”

According to the two students who appeared in front of the tribunal but cannot be identified due to a publication ban, Brown regularly made them feel uncomfortable in class.

Shortly after class began on Feb. 25, 2015, one student testified, Brown began to speak about her personal life. She told Grade 10 students that the reason her mother had 20 children was because she was “horny.” Brown recalled asking her mother once asking her why she was “so black.”

“I told her she should have f—ked a white sailor,” students heard.
Brown swore throughout the class, the student said, and made inappropriate comments. After telling students personal stories about women she said were “sluts,” Brown gave them advice.

“If a slutty girl or a horny girl wants to have sex with you, you should f—k her well and leave her in a wheelchair for two days,” Brown said.

Six days earlier, Brown was teaching a Grade 9 religion class. According to a second student witness, Brown caught his attention when he overheard her say: “He can kiss my black ass without touching it.”

Brown once again brought up her personal life, according to the student. She told the class that when she was younger, a student at her school tried to grab her buttocks and she stuck a pencil in his arm.

The conversation transitioned to how flexible she was for a woman over 60 years old. Brown proved this by lying on the floor and attempting to put her legs behind her head, the tribunal saw in a video that appeared to be recorded by a student.

“It made me feel weird,” one student told the tribunal. “It was unusual in a religion class but overall it was pretty funny.”
More than 10 students — and one educational assistant — wrote statements accusing Brown of frequently talking about her sex life, including about how she did not have sex with men her age because they were “too old and wrinkly.”

Other students, who did not appear before the tribunal, also wrote in statements that Brown once told them a story about a naked man confronting her while she was cleaning her room. Brown said that she told the man, in reference to the size of his penis: “That’s the only thing you got? My brother’s is bigger.”

The tribunal heard that Brown also berated students with insults, calling them “white trash” and “losers.” According to one statement, Brown told a class that one student will get “nowhere in life” with his girlfriend. Another student accused Brown of telling her to go the washroom “in your pants.”

The Post was unable to contact Brown for comment.

The religion teacher is now retired after taking a leave of absence from the school shortly after the allegations were made in 2015 and never returning, the tribunal heard.

If Brown, who taught in Canada for more than 20 years, wants to teach again, she will have to complete a course on professional boundaries with students. The panel also ordered her to appear in person for a reprimand.

• Email: vferreira@postmedia.com | Twitter: VicF77

No comments:

Post a Comment

Public Comments