3 years in prison for Windsor-area former teacher guilty of sexual exploitation

A former Catholic high school teacher in Windsor who was found guilty of sexual offences has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Ryan Turgeon will also have to provide a DNA sample and will be listed in the sex offender registry for the next 20 years.

The three-year sentence is consistent with what Crown prosecutor Jayme Lesperance argued for at Turgeon's sentencing hearing in September, at the time saying his actions were an egregious breach of trust.

Turgeon was found guilty of sexual exploitation and making sexual material available to someone under the age of 18. As part of the same trial, he was found not guilty with regards to several other charges involving a second complainant.

According to an agreed-upon statement of facts, he taught the complainant religion, civics and career and drama at Catholic Central High school. Turgeon sent the student explicit photographs and videos and made numerous sexual advances, Lesperance said the student stated. 

It began after a conversation between the teacher and student in which the student expressed his uncertainty about his sexuality, he said. 

The incidents occurred over a number of weeks or months between the fall of 2017 and summer of 2018.

The lawyer who made submissions on behalf of Turgeon in September had asked for a sentence of 12 to 18 months.