Greater Victoria teacher permanently banned from teaching after child porn conviction
Correction: A previous photo credit for this story mentioned Gregory Garost, a middle school teacher who was suspended for inappropriate conduct in 2019. Garost’s suspension is not related to this case and was mentioned in error.
An elementary school teacher in the Greater Victoria School District (SD61) had his teaching certificate permanently banned after being convicted of possessing child pornography.
Travis Curry Mitchell first received a teaching certificate in 2018.
In June 2020, SD61 filed a report about Mitchell to the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, and by July of that year he had signed an undertaking not to take on any teaching role in the province.
The commissioner says police first began investigating Mitchell in June 2020, after police received a report that he had inappropriately communicated with a minor outside of his teaching profession, but while Mitchell was in a "position of trust" with the child.
He was arrested on June 9, at which point police searched his phone and computer and found child pornography on the devices, according to a consent resolution agreement between the commissioner and Mitchell.
In April 2021, Mitchell pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to an 18-month conditional sentence followed by 12 months of probation on Oct. 13, 2021.
The conditions of his probation include a ban on communicating with anyone under the age of 16, and a 10-year inclusion on the National Sex Offender Registry.
Since the incident occurred while Mitchell was working as an elementary school teacher in the Greater Victoria School District, the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation decided to place a lifetime ban on reissuing him a teaching certificate.
The commissioner laid out the penalty in a consent resolution agreement that was made public Tuesday, which Mitchell agreed to.
"Mitchell agrees not to make any statement orally or in writing which contradicts, disputes or calls into question the terms of this agreement or the admissions made in it," reads the agreement.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.