Video by Jenna Leslie [1], QNet News
By Bradley Bennett [2], Brendan Burke [3], Leah Den Hartogh [4], Madeleine Villa [5], Casey Horn [6] and Joseph Carin [7]
BELLEVILLE – A French teacher from Stirling has pleaded guilty to multiple sex-related charges involving minors, most of them her four students.
Jaclyn McLaren, 37, shielded herself from reporters with an umbrella as she walked into the Quinte Courthouse Tuesday morning. Entering the courtroom, she was red-faced and appeared to be weeping. When called to enter her plea to the seven charges – reduced from the original 113 – she could be seen to be shaking.
The charges stem from an investigation launched in February last year connected to alleged activities at Tweed Elementary School.
Along with a large media presence, McLaren was accompanied by three supporters during Tuesday’s proceedings.
According to a statement of facts read to the court by assistant Crown attorney Lynn Ross, the events began during a Grade 8 class when McLaren allowed some students to use her personal cellphone. They went through her photos and found an explicit image. Later, one of the students demanded explicit photos in exchange for his silence about the discovery, and McLaren complied with this request, according to the statement.
Subsequently McLaren and the youths had a number of sexual interactions, including intercourse and oral sex, as well as numerous explicit exchanges on Snapchat [8], the court heard.
Video by Madeleine Villa [9], QNet News
In a media scrum outside the courtroom, Ross explained that McLaren had pleaded guilty to the following charges:
- Sexual exploitation involving two victims
- Luring (two victims)
- Possessing child pornography (three victims)
- Sexual interference (two victims)
- Making sexually explicit material available.
There were eight victims in total, four of them under 16. All were under the age of 18, and six were her former students.
McLaren left the courtroom after the hearing, again trying to shield her face from reporters and photographers.
Outside the courthouse, McLaren’s lawyer, Pieter Kort, told reporters that his client feels “terrible,” but that her pleas Tuesday show that she’s doing the right thing.
“She’s disappointed. It’s been a horrible time for her and her family. In terms of today, she did the best the thing she knew to do, and that is to plead guilty and take responsibility for what happened,” he said.
Kort added that he expects sentencing to reflect the seriousness of the charges.
“There’s no question there will be jail time.”
McLaren is to return to court for sentencing, which Judge Stephen Hunter set for Friday, May 19, at 9:30 a.m.
Video by Madeleine Villa, QNet News
With files from Kayla Haggett and Cody Starr, QNet News