He was convicted for sexually touching a student. Years later, he still had a Manitoba teaching certificate

A man sentenced in Manitoba to six months in jail for sexually touching a minor wasn't stripped of his teaching credentials in at least three provinces until years after he was convicted.

CBC News has reviewed court records for teachers whose licences were suspended or cancelled after the province released a public registry with the certificate status of kindergarten to Grade 12 educators earlier this year.

That review found at least three cases between 2014 and 2024 in which it took more than 12 months after a criminal conviction before Manitoba's education ministry revoked a teaching certificate.

Court records show one of the former teachers was sentenced to six months in jail and a three-year probation in October 2013 for sexually touching a student under the age of 16. 

But for more than three years, his Manitoba teaching certificate remained in good standing. It wasn't revoked until April 2017.

The province has since made changes that include making the teacher registry public and appointing an independent education commissioner to investigate complaints about teacher misconduct. 

A spokesperson for the province said it can't disclose information on a specific teacher beyond what is listed in the public registry, including why the certificate wasn't cancelled for roughly three and a half years. 

However, the province said in many cases, a final decision on a teacher's certificate is made only after court proceedings finish, including any appeal. 

The former teacher appealed his conviction and sentence in 2013, but the appeal hearing didn't take place until early 2016, when it was dismissed. 

Anne-Marie Robinson, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and co-founder of the advocacy group Stop Educator Child Exploitation, says a conviction for sexual interference already clears a "pretty high threshold" for cancelling a teacher's licence. 

"That's a matter of weighing the rights of the person to an appeal versus the safety of children," Robinson said. 

While children are "the most vulnerable in our society," teachers "have power and control over [them] … so it is really important that these people not be shown to be in good standing on a teacher's registry" if convicted, she said. 

"I think there's no reason why you can't cancel the certificate sooner."

If a conviction was overturned on appeal, the province could restore the certificate, she said. But cracks in the system could allow teachers to still be in contact with children while waiting on an appeal, even after serving time in jail, she said.