A former Hazelton teacher convicted of sexual exploitation of a young person has now been sentenced for breaching his probation order.
Robert Robinson Sturney was ordered to pay a $300 fine and spend one year on probation with conditions in Hazelton provincial court March 4.
On Feb. 14, 2012, Sturney was sentenced to 14 days of intermittent imprisonment and 18 months of probation after being convicted of sexual exploitation of a young person when he was in a position of trust or authority towards the young person between October 2008 and September 2009.
The young person had previously been a student in Sturney’s class.
His recent court date was for a charge of failing to attend counselling from Dec. 6 to 18, 2012, said Neil MacKenzie, spokesperson for the provincial criminal justice branch of the Ministry of the Attorney General.
In late 2013, Sturney signed a consent resolution agreement with the Teachers Regulation Branch (formerly the BC College of Teachers) commissioner Bruce Preston in which he agreed to not apply for a certificate of qualification as a teacher or a letter of permission to teach for 12 years, the end date of which is October 30, 2025.
A consent resolution agreement is used when the commissioner determines that the facts require some action against the individual’s teaching certificate or certain conditions on his or her practice and is a voluntary process resulting in a written agreement on the facts and outcome as they relate to the certificate holder’s practice.
