A former Delta teacher sentenced last year on a child pornography charge has received a lifetime ban from teaching.
An agreement summary published Jan. 25 shows former Gray Elementary teacher Elazar Reshef, 54, of Surrey entered into a consent resolution agreement with the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation on Jan. 11, agreeing that his conduct constitutes professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming, and is contrary to professional standards for B.C. educators.
Reshef agreed that he would never again apply for — and the Director of Certification would not issue him — either a certificate of qualification, an independent school teaching certificate or another authorization at any time in the future, under section 64(g) of the Teachers Act.
In determining the appropriateness of the lifetime ban, the commissioner noted that Reshef’s conduct “was at the serious end of the spectrum.”
On Nov. 12, 2020, Reshef pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography, receiving an 18-month conditional sentence on Feb. 5, 2021. Two other charges of making or publishing child pornography were stayed by Crown counsel.
READ MORE: Surrey man who worked as a Delta school teacher sentenced for possessing child porn (Feb. 8., 2021)
Surrey RCMP’s Internet Child Exploitation Unit launched an investigation in March 2019 after receiving a notification from an electronic service provider that an account user was in possession of child porn.
In a press release announcing the charges against Reshef in July of 2020, Surrey RCMP Corporal Joanie Sidhu stated that while no Lower Mainland children had been identified as potential victims, police decided to alert the public considering Reshef’s line of work.
“Elazar Reshef has been in direct contact with children during his work as a teacher in the Delta School District,” Sidhu noted in July of 2020. “As a result, the Surrey RCMP are releasing this information in the interest of public safety and to further the police investigation.”
In a statement provided to Black Press Media at the time, the Delta School District said Reshef had not been at work or allowed on district property since July 2019, noting the “safety and well-being of our students is our paramount concern.”
“In July 2019, upon hearing that Mr. Reshef was being investigated by the police, we took immediate action to remove him from any interactions with students within the school district,” reads the statement.
Details included in the agreement summary show Reshef held a teaching certificate from Oct. 27, 1994 until Nov. 1, 2021, when it was cancelled due to non-payment of fees.
The summary shows police executed a search warrant on Reshef’s residence in 2019 and seized multiple devices for forensic examination, including his work laptop and phone, which included photographs of students which were taken without their knowledge or their parents’ permission.
The school district reported Reshef to the Commissioner for Teacher Regulation in 2019, and suspended him that same year.
In 2020, Reshef gave an undertaking that he would not teach or work in any position in the kindergarten to Grade 12 education system in British Columbia.
— with files from Tom Zytaruk and Lauren Collins
editor@northdeltareporter.com
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