Suburban Toronto teacher charged with explicit chats with student

Dina Calautti, 35, a Grade 11 teacher from Missassauga, was charged with sexual assault, internet luring, and two counts of sexual exploitation. She allegedly engaged in explicit online chats with a 16 year old male student, as well as leg touching at school, according to Peel Regional Police. Calautti is a social studies teacher at Notre Dame Secondary School in Brampton, but is currently suspended with pay. Brampton & Missassauga are both suburbs of Toronto.

According to the Toronto Star,

These allegations are disturbing," said Bruce Campbell, spokesperson for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. "But we don't know anything more than what the police told us and we are co-operating fully."

Calautti is scheduled to make her first appearance in a Brampton court on Dec. 17.
According to a website where students rate their teachers, Caulutti is a popular teacher at Notre Dame.

Contributors to the site ratemyteachers.ca describe her as being "awesome,” “funny,” “sweet,” “pretty” and “smart." One submission calls her "the greatest teacher in the world."

The AOC in Canada is 14, but rises to 18 when the alleged abuse victim is in a position of trust. What's disturbing is that if Calautti wasn't a teacher, such conversations would be legal. Where I'm from, the AOC is 18.

Update (11-17-07):

The alleged teenage victim is talking with Toronto reporters and says that Calautti did not engage in any sexual contact with him. He says that Calautti comforted him after he broke up with his girlfriend.

"She did nothing wrong. She helped me get over my ex-girlfriend," said the Grade 11 student, who can't be named. "She did nothing to me. All we did was talk. Our conversations weren't sexually explicit. She never touched me. Police have taken this way, way too far. When they told me she was going to be charged, I was speechless."

Reference:

Teacher Charged With Sexual Offences