By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Former Teacher Gets 12-Years in Prison in Sexual Assault Case

Jun 30, 2016 | 11:12 AM

LETHBRIDGE – A former Raymond elementary school teacher was handed a 12-year prison sentence Thursday (June 30).

Last September, Jamey Brian Kristian pleaded guilty to charges of sexual assault, sexual interference, child pornography, and voyeurism.

Through an agreed statement of facts, it was revealed that Kristian met one of the boys, who was just 9 in 2005, through Big Brothers Big Sisters. He only volunteered with the organization for about six months, but continued the relationship afterwards. It was in 2007 that he started to engage in various sexual acts with the boy, and kept a journal detailing what he did. The sexual assaults continued until 2012.

He became a mentor to the second boy, also 9, and also started acting as a babysitter for the child. He sexually assaulted that victim during the summer of 2013.

The other case involved Kristian taking sexually explicit photos of a 10-year old boy while he slept.

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During a search of Kristian’s home and electronics, police discovered that Kristian took a number of photos of young boys in change rooms at Nicholas Sheran and Stan Siwik pools, along with a third unidentified location, without the boys knowledge. They also found that Kristian had obtained more child pornography on the internet.

Before delivering his sentence, Judge Derek Redman referenced a psychological report that had been prepared for Kristian, which stated he was attracted to men but had been conditioned to believe it was wrong. The report concluded that it pushed Kristian to pursue relationships with underage boys by thinking it would be easier to keep secret. The report also noted Kristian is a moderate to high risk to re-offend.

Redman also discussed the defence suggestion that the loss of Kristian’s career as a teacher should be considered a mitigating factor. He explained that the public needs to have confidence in teachers, making the statement, “They must be trusted implicitly.”

In addition to time in custody, Kristian will go onto the sex offender registry for life. He is also banned from using the internet – unless under supervision from someone aware of his history – for 20-years after his release. The same restriction is also in place for Kristian at parks, playgrounds, schools and anywhere else children are likely to attend.

One of Kristian’s victims, who cannot be identified, spoke to the media outside the courthouse.

“It has mentally destroyed me, that’s just the basic truth of it,” he explained. “As much as I would like to have avoided it all, it was not something that could have been avoided by myself.”

He also discussed Kristian’s apologies made during an earlier court appearance.

“It means absolutely nothing to me. I saw Kristian cry one time and knowing him for such a long period of time, nine plus years, I know that wasn’t a sincere apology, in my opinion.”

Having said that, the young man – now 20-years old – explained that he’s working to take some positives from what happened to him, by helping others. While the judge denied his application to have the publication ban lifted to reveal his identity, he still had an important message for others in a similar situation.

“They’re not alone with everything that has happened, and there are other people out there who know exactly how those people are feeling.”