Stop Educator Child Exploitation: What SECE Has Achieved

In 2022, SECE completed a province-by-province diagnostic of the current child safety policies and institutional structures designed to protect children from educator misconduct. This study includes substantive recommendations, such as the creation of independent bodies to adjudicate complaints and the establishment of a national registry of teachers found to have harmed children. This research was co-released on November 2, 2022, by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection alongside their study, which determined the number of children still subjected to teacher on student sexual abuse. At least 548 children were sexually exploited by school educators or staff members between 2017 and 2021. Poor record keeping and low reporting rates mean that these numbers are significantly understated.

Furthermore, the SECE study disclosed that, in most provinces and territories, the current system still relies on self-policing by actors who are both unqualified and entangled in conflicts of interest. Moreover, practices driven by collective bargaining and employment law often prioritize the interests of accused perpetrators over the needs of children requiring protection. These fundamental structural flaws in the system frequently allow dangerous teachers to remain in the educational environment, safeguarding their employment or concealing their damaging misconduct through non-disclosure agreements.

We concluded that weak and inconsistent record keeping, coupled with inadequate public disclosure of information, means that Canadian parents have no way of knowing whether the situation regarding sexual abuse prevention is improving or deteriorating. Essentially, Canadian parents are compelled to place their children in educational programs without being informed of the potential risks of sexual exploitation enabled by the flawed administration of child safety policies.

While five provinces have quasi-independent bodies in place to adjudicate educator misconduct, these institutions are often marked by a lack of true independence, conflicts of interest, and in some cases, weak procedural integrity. The remaining provinces and territories operate with even weaker systems.

SECE has liaised with and advised the governments of Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan on enhancing their child safety policies and has explored avenues for improving safety. As part of this initiative, SECE members have extensively lobbied local school districts and provincial regulatory bodies, both reporting incidents of abuse and seeking opportunities to educate local school districts on how to better protect students today.

In partnership with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, SECE provided a Community Impact Statement to a Manitoba Court during a sentencing hearing for a teacher who sexually exploited students under his care.

SECE has actively worked to raise awareness among governments about the harms that historical pardons of offenders can inflict on victims—both psychologically and in terms of our ability to obtain police records related to our abuse, which jeopardizes our success in civil litigation.

SECE conducted a review of educator collective bargaining agreements in all provinces and discovered that most included personnel record destruction clauses that lacked exceptions for misconduct posing significant risks of sexual exploitation by educators.

SECE has met multiple times with the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime and his various staff members to raise awareness of current issues related to child safety policies in school settings. 

In January 2026, a SECE member provided valuable advice to the River East Transcona School Division on enhancing their policies to better protect children under their care from educator misconduct. 

Additionally, two members of SECE are currently engaged in a project with Little Warriors in Alberta aimed at developing a comprehensive strategy for sexual abuse prevention in Canada.

SECE participated in a workshop on November 18th, 2024, in Tofino, British Columbia, entitled Vital Conversations on Community Response to Sexual Abuse Strategies. This workshop was hosted by Clayoquot Biosphere Trust and Westcoast Community Resource Society, and it emphasized the importance of child safety policies and sexual abuse prevention in community responses.  

During this event, SECE members provided testimony and victim impact statements, which contributed to the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime 2025 report titled Rethinking Justice for Survivors of Sexual Violence: A Systemic Investigation, focusing on crucial aspects such as educator misconduct.  

Furthermore, SECE participated in a panel at the Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse (CCASA) two-day conference on October 23 and 24, 2025. This panel concentrated on system failures and the necessary institutional reforms needed to enhance sexual abuse prevention efforts.

In March of 2023, a SECE member was tasked with developing child safety policies for the national sport program Spirit North, aimed at enhancing protections for Indigenous Youth. 

In 2024, SECE engaged in the Sports for Life initiative, focusing on Safety in Sports by sharing valuable insights on child safety policies that help prevent educator misconduct and ensure children’s safety in school settings and sports organizations.  

In 2025, SECE testified before the Future of Sport Commission, discussing institutional solutions for preventing sexual abuse and safeguarding children in child serving organizations. 

SECE also participated in the National Summit on the Future of Sport on September 11 and 12, 2025, where it contributed its expertise on enhancing child safety policies within Child Serving Organizations.

As of November 2025, a SECE member is actively engaged in a child-safety taskforce for Scouts Canada, focusing on child safety policies and initiatives related to educator misconduct and sexual abuse prevention.

Several SECE members served as main subjects and inspiration for the second season of the CBC podcast entitled "The Band Played On" and "The Banned Teacher." These award-winning podcasts delve into how numerous children fell victim to sexual abuse by Canadian educators, highlighting the significant failures in child safety policies by school boards that neglected their duty to protect these vulnerable students.

A prominent SECE member was featured in a Winnipeg Free Press series titled Classroom Confidential, reported by Jeff Hamilton. This multi-part series shed light on the critical failures in the school system that facilitated educator misconduct and the sexual exploitation of children by their teachers.

SECE members have also authored impactful books aimed at educating stakeholders and Canadians about the dire consequences for victims of teacher abuse, as well as the systemic failures related to sexual abuse prevention. 

• The Village that Betrayed its Children (2024) by member Karen Lee M.A. C. Psych. Ret.

• Teaching Bullies (2015) by member Jennifer Fraser

• The Bullied Brain (2022) by member Jennifer Fraser

• The Gaslit Brain (2025) by member Jennifer Fraser

• 53 articles were published in Psychology Today by member Jennifer Fraser

Additionally, SECE members have contributed to numerous media articles and TV events that emphasize public education and the importance of effective sexual abuse prevention strategies.