Catherine Valiquette sentenced to 4 years in prison for sexually abusing a student

Content warning: This story contains graphic details that some may find disturbing.

A former Alberta teacher has been sentenced to four years for sexually abusing a student.

The verdict was handed down on Friday in a packed courtroom in Stony Plain.

Catherine Valiquette pleaded guilty to sexual interference last December.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Valiquette was a 9th-grade teacher at Graminia School in Parkland County when, in April 2023, she engaged in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.

Valiquette added a student who was in her science class on the social media app Snapchat, and the two began talking for hours every day.

Court documents showed that the chats became increasingly sexual in nature, which eventually led to a physical relationship outside of school.

The victim’s siblings found out about these communications and notified their parents, who confiscated his phone.

Catherine Valiquette (source: Facebook)

According to the agreed statement of facts, the boy and Valiquette, who was 29 at the time, began chatting in a Google doc and developed codes with each other, such as using “143,” which meant “I love you.” “

As the relationship progressed, the boy rode his bicycle to meet Valiquette, who took them in her vehicle to the countryside, where the pair engaged in sexual activity, including intercourse, the court heard.

Documents show that condoms were not always used and that they often used baby wipes to clean up, which they then threw away at the scene.

Court documents show police recovered several of these wipes at the scene.

Valiquette and the victim stopped communicating in June 2023, and the boy told his parents about the relationship that same month.

His parents reported the abuse to the RCMP and the school.

During the investigation, police found a sweater belonging to the victim in Valiquette’s possession.

She initially told police she had developed a relationship with the boy but had not had sexual relations with him.

Sentencing decision

During Friday’s hearing where the verdict was announced, the mother of four children personally addressed the court and apologized for her actions.

“What I did goes against everything I stand for,” she told the court, adding that throughout her teaching career she has always strived to provide students with a safe and supportive space.

“I take responsibility for my actions and once again I am truly sorry.”

Since the allegations were made in August 2023, she has not worked as a teacher.

Victim statements read earlier in court showed the boy’s parents said they were tormented by a sense of failure at being unable to protect their son.

The boy’s father said he believed Valiquette’s communications with his son were a “calculated and manipulative” attack to make him believe he lived in an abusive home.

He stated that his relationship with his son had deteriorated since the violence.

The boy’s mother called the abuse her “worst nightmare” and worried about her son’s future because society does not support male victims of sexual abuse.

The parents said they and their three children have been attending weekly counseling since the abuse was discovered, at a cost of $35,000, and will likely need to receive counseling for some time.

The defense asked for a conditional sentence of two years minus one day, suspended, while the Crown argued for a five-year prison sentence.

Judge Kimberly Palichuk found that a sentence of less than two years was not an appropriate sentence, but took into account Valiquette’s earlier guilty plea and her remorse.

Judge Palichuk found that Valiquette groomed the boy and took significant steps to conceal her actions, adding that she was highly trusted as a teacher.

In addition to the four years in prison, Valiquette is subject to a DNA testing order and a weapons prohibition.