Regina teacher accused of sexual offences tells court he didn't realize he was messaging teen student
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Regina high school teacher Jeffrey Dumba told a court Thursday that he stopped sending sexually explicit messages to a girl once he realized she was a 15-year-old student.
Dumba, 52, is on trial at Court of King's Bench in Regina, where he has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including inviting a minor to touch herself sexually, distributing sexually explicit material to a minor and possessing child pornography.
Earlier this week, his trial heard testimony from a girl who alleges that a messaging relationship with Dumba in 2021 eventually led to an exchange of explicit photos and videos.
The identity of the teen, who was 15 at the time of the alleged offences, is subject to a publication ban.
On Thursday afternoon, Dumba took the stand as the defence's first witness and described how he began messaging the teen in the summer of 2021, and how those conversations evolved.
Dumba told the court he did not know the teen in the 2020-21 school year, as he did not teach her. He also noted students were required to wear masks during that school year. He said he may have interacted with her in a colleague's class, but denied any physical contact with her.
The teen earlier testified that Dumba hugged her at the end of the school year, and spoke with her occasionally in the school.
Dumba said that summer, he was "hanging out" in his backyard, "having some drinks and doing some drugs." He said that happened a few times a week. He also said over that summer he was sharing intimate images with five or six women.
He said he did not recall the teen adding him as a contact on the social media platform Snapchat, and said that while he did not know who she was, he added her anyway.
Dumba said he had students try to add him as a contact in the past but did not accept.
He testified that the girl told him she was 20 and a "student," which he said he assumed meant she was in post-secondary school.
"The pictures that I saw, she looked 20," Dumba said.
The initial messages were about "normal, everyday stuff," but eventually turned sexual, he told the court.
Trevor Allen didn’t worry about who had the most extravagant decorations or brightest bulbs.
Alberta's transportation minister could hear the horns blaring from inside his office.
A single northbound lane on the long-awaited Pattullo Bridge replacement has opened to traffic, marking the first step in a phased opening process.
The Yukon has been grappling with an extreme cold weather system that's pushing the power grid to the brink because it can't keep up with demand.
The days leading up to Christmas day can be the most stressful time of the holidays. Especially if those days are spent travelling to the post office hoping to pick up that special, last minute gift you ordered online, just in time to put it under the tree.
The Yukon's energy provider says Whitehorse is not at imminent risk of blackouts, but with very cold weather forecasted through the holidays, residents are still being asked to conserve power.
A pedestrian is dead after a vehicle crashed into a building in Toronto, said police.
RCMP in Inuvik, N.W.T., say two youth have been arrested after officers found suspected cocaine and a loaded firearm at a home in the community.
Canada and 13 other countries issued a joint statement Wednesday condemning the Israeli security cabinet's approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Alberta health officials are flagging the circulation of a rare bacteria known as Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) among homeless adults living in Calgary.
The future of a prominent building in London's Old East Village (OEV), once home to the London Food Incubator, is looking uncertain following the relocation of its anchor tenant and the planned departure of another.
As Yukon continues to deal with a prolonged spell of extreme cold, emergency officials are advising people to be prepared in case of a power outage.
Police say they have found and arrested 47-year-old Douglas Yetman, a man wanted for murder.