A Saskatchewan high school teacher who was acquitted of sexual exploitation charges involving a student will lose her teaching certificate.
The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation has ordered that Erin Osmond Kaziuk’s certificate be cancelled by the province. The decision, which was posted online this month, comes after a professional ethics committee hearing into Kaziuk’s conduct.
In May 2015, Kaziuk was found not guilty of two counts of sexual exploitation involving a 16-year-old boy she taught at Winston High School in Watrous.
During the trial, Kaziuk testified she thought the relationship was appropriate because the boy was the legal age of consent. Her lawyer argued the teen also wanted a sexual relationship.
A charge of sexual exploitation requires the Crown to prove that the accused was in a position of authority or trust over a person over the age of 16, but younger than 18.
Kaziuk argued she was not in a position of authority over the boy because she was no longer his teacher. She said the two first had sex in mid-March 2013, and her teaching contract ended in February 2013, though she remained on the school’s substitute list.
