A teacher has been suspended for 15 years by Nanaimo – Ladysmith School District after he admitted to sharing explicit messages and images with three high school students.
An agreement issued by the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation indicates Neil Holmes admitted his conduct was unprofessional and he failed to maintain proper boundaries with both current and former students, which dated back to 2014.
According to the report Student A, who graduated in 2014, was only acquainted with Holmes because the student knew he was a teacher on call.
The reports says Holmes used platforms such as Facebook Messenger to connect with the student after graduation. It says they exchanged sexual content, and Holmes even went as far as to send a photograph of a classroom outlining his future intentions when it came to intercourse.
The agreement shows one year later, around April or May, Student B located Holmes on Tinder and contacted him.
The report says Holmes knew Student B was enrolled at the school but contacted them anyway and sent messages containing graphic material.
“The text messages included communication from Holmes of a sexual nature,” the report says. “In June of 2015, before Student B graduated from school, Holmes sent Student B two sexually explicit photos of himself.”
The report says Student B posted a warning for other students on social media about the incident, indicating not all the teachers were looking out for their well-being and going as far as implicating Holmes in the post.
“Student B posted a warning on Facebook that not all teachers at the school were good people,” the report says.
According to the transcript, Holmes contacted Student C between February and April of 2016 when the student was 18.
The report describes the event much the same as the others saying photos were shared as well as text messages containing sexual content.
According to the report, Student C knew Holmes through school sports and did not have him as a teacher while at the school.
The district says in the report they acted immediately by placing Homes on leave and requiring the director of certification not to issue Holmes a certificate of qualification, an independent teaching certificate, or any other authorization to teach in the kindergarten to Grade 12 education system.
Holmes was placed on paid leave from Feb. 16, 2021, to June 30, 2021. He was placed on unpaid leave on July 1, 2021, and resigned from the district on Jan. 5, 2022.
