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Former Waterloo, Ont. principal sentenced to 4 years after admitting to explicit online conversations with ‘teenagers’

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A former elementary school principal will spend the next four years behind bars. Krista Simpson has more on the judge's sentence.

Warning: This story contains disturbing and explicit sexual details.

A former elementary school principal in Waterloo, Ont. has been sentenced to four years behind bars after admitting to explicit conversations with online accounts he believed belonged to teenaged girls.

Last year in a London, Ont. court, Phillip Sallewsky plead guilty to a series of charges which included luring, transmitting sexually explicit material to someone believed to be under the age of 16, as well as making and transmitting written child pornography.

He was ultimately sentenced on two luring charges.

Justice Brian White said that, though Sallewsky plead guilty to the other counts, they would be conditionally stayed as they were encompassed in the luring charges.

The judge also noted that the charges related to two distinct offenses, involving two child personas, though the conversations both began around the same time in February 2023.

In an agreed statement of facts, court previously heard about the sexually explicit online conversations between accounts linked to Sallewsky’s phone and two accounts that identified themselves as a 13-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl.

The “teens” were actually two undercover police officers.

The conversations took place over several weeks and, at the time, Sallewsky was the principal of Northlake Woods Public School in Waterloo.

The conversations included images Sallewsky sent of his penis; police later determined one such photo was taken and sent from his office at the elementary school.

The agreed statement of facts described how Sallewsky carved wooden penises and engraved the names of the “teen” personas on them. He then sent them the photos and suggested they could use it for sexual pleasure.

Sallewsky also made arrangements to meet both “girls” separately. He was arrested at one of those planned meetings, the Burlington Go Train station, on March 30, 2023.

The judge said Sallewsky’s were especially egregious due his history as an educator.

“This was an experienced educator who knew the particular vulnerabilities of children and, as part of his grooming strategy, used his experience as a teacher, vice-principal and principal for his own deviant sexual purposes,” Justice White explained to the court. “This makes Mr. Sallewsky a child predator unique amongst child predators, given his professional experience as an educator. His moral blameworthiness for these offenses is high.”

The judge said he found nothing Sallewsky did was impulsive or spontaneous and, in some of the messages to one of the teens, it was clear Sallewsky knew what he was doing was wrong.

Justic White also noted that Sallewsky had plead guilty – a sign of remorse – and it was his first offense.

He also referenced an apology letter Sallewsky submitted to the court where he wrote “there are so many things that I regret,” including the pain he caused to his wife, children, colleagues, employer and neighbours.

The judge said he received a number of character letters that indicated Sallewsky has support from his friends and family which, in turn, makes rehabilitation more likely.

Sallewsky was given two years for each luring charge, to be served consecutively.

Restrictions after release

Sallewsky must submit his DNA and be added to the sex offender registry, where he’ll remain for 20 years.

He will also face a number of restrictions over the next 20 years, including not being allowed at public places where children may be present unless he’s accompanied by someone over 21-years-old who is aware of his conviction.

Other places he can’t visit include public parks, swimming areas, daycares and school grounds.

Sallewsky also cannot take on work or volunteer where he is in a position of trust or authority over people under 16-years-old, or to communicate, by any means, with a person under the age of 16, unless in the presence of a person older than 21 that is aware of his conviction.

He won’t be allowed to use the internet or other similar telecommunication devices to access child pornography. The judge has ordered him not to participate in chat rooms, bulletin boards or other social media that discusses or promotes child exploitation.

After delivering his judgment, Justice White told Sallewsky before leaving: “Thank you sir, good luck to you.”

The Waterloo Region District School Board has confirmed Sallewsky is no longer an employee, but did not provide the date when his employment ended.