Former teacher faces new sex assault charges

by: Jeremy Deutsch

A former Coquitlam teacher and convicted sex offender is facing a handful of new serious sex assault charges with minors dating back to the late 1990s.

Russell Lance Read, 61, made a brief appearance in Port Coquitlam provincial court Thursday related to five charges, including two counts of sexual assault and one count each of sexual exploitation, sexual interference of a person under 14 and touching a young person for sexual purpose.

Three of the charges are based out of Port Coquitlam, while two are from Vancouver.

The former teacher made his appearance from video link at Mountain Institute federal penitentiary.

His case was held over until March 20, to allow him time to deal with a legal aid issue.

Last May, the retired School District 43 teacher was handed an 18-month sentence for one count of touching for sexual purposes, and a 12-month sentence for a second count. He was also sentenced to 12 months for giving one of his victims an overpowering drug.

One of the offences occurred between July 1998 and February 2000, while the other two happened between January 2001 and June 2003.

At the time of Read’s guilty plea in January 2013, Coquitlam Mounties sent out a press release asking anyone to come forward if they believed themselves to be a victim of the teacher.

Coquitlam RCMP wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the new charges, but continued to urge any possible victims to come forward and speak to investigators.

According to court documents, the three new Port Coquitlam charges date between January and July of 1998 and involve a young person identified only as J.B.

The two Vancouver charges date back to June and July of 2001 and involve a young person identified as D.M.

In both counts, Read is described as “being a person in a position of trust or authority towards a young person,” but there is no mention of his role as a teacher or of schools.

The charges were sworn on Feb. 27.

According to the RCMP release from last year, Read taught at Citadel Middle School in PoCo. Besides being a computer teacher, he coached rugby and volleyball and taught choir.

In 2006, the former B.C. College of Teachers cancelled his teaching licence for nonpayment of fees and began investigating him for professional misconduct. A disciplinary hearing was held two years later and Read admitted to professional misconduct.

Source: thenownews