Teacher was disciplined by school district before arrest for sex crimes

Police say parents' complaint was first they heard of concerns

Coquitlam school officials refused Tuesday to reveal why they disciplined substitute teacher Aleksandr Plehanov before a police investigation in March resulted in his arrest for nine sex crimes against children.

Nor would they comment on RCMP reports that they said nothing about that earlier investigation when police contacted them March 10 to advise that three Grade 3 girls, aged seven and eight, were alleging they had been touched inappropriately by a substitute teacher on school property.

"The board acted on all information received and took action immediately, as prescribed by policy and the law," the district stated in response to questions from The Vancouver Sun. "As this is before the courts, we cannot comment further. Also, the board cannot comment on any outcomes of any investigations as this constitutes work history which is protected by privacy legislation."

The district has been silent about its disciplining of Plehanov, a substitute teacher who worked in dozens of Coquitlam schools during the past three years. The only information came from the B.C. College of Teachers, which revealed Monday that it began investigating Plehanov on March 5 after receiving a discipline report from Coquitlam district, as required by law.

Communications officer Mykle Ludvigsen said another report about Plehanov was filed five days later, after police became involved. But Ludvigsen would not comment on the events that prompted the disciplinary action in Coquitlam, would not indicate if the two reports dealt with the same, or similar, allegations, and would not say when the first report was filed.

While details of the disciplinary action against Plehanov are unknown, the Child, Family and Community Services Act of B.C. states that anyone who has reason to believe a child is being abused or neglected has a legal duty to report those concerns to authorities.

In an interview Tuesday, RCMP Cpl. Bert Paquet said police had no information about Plehanov before March 10, when they were contacted by parents who said their daughter told them she had been touched inappropriately by a substitute teacher in her Grade 3 class. That same day, investigators identified two other girls with similar allegations.

Investigators contacted the school district and Plehanov was suspended, Paquet said Monday. Later, he said police were not told about the district's disciplining of the teacher but would be inquiring.

Plehanov, who was known to students as "Mr. P," was arrested March 18 at his Burnaby home and charged with three counts each of sexual interference, sexual exploitation and sexual assault. He was freed on bail but ordered to have no contact or communication with anyone under age 14 and to stay away from places where children and youth might gather, such as playgrounds, skating rinks and recreational facilities.