Catherine Valiquette sentenced to 4 years for sexually abusing a student

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

The verdict was handed down 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 she began a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student in April 2023.

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

Court documents revealed that the nature of the chats became increasingly sexual and eventually led to a physical relationship outside of school.

The victim’s sibling became aware of the communication and informed his parents, who confiscated his phone.

Catherine Valiquette (Source: Facebook)

According to the agreed statement of facts, the boy and Valiquette, who was 29 years old at the time, started talking in a Google Doc and developed codes between them, such as using “143,” which meant “I love you.” “

As the relationship progressed, the boy rode his bicycle to meet Valiquette, who would drive them in her car to a rural area, where the pair would engage in sexual activities, including intercourse, the court heard.

According to the documents, a condom was not always used and the pair often used baby wipes to clean up and disposed of them at the scene.

Several of these wipes were eventually recovered by police at the scene, according to court documents.

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

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

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

She initially told police she was close to the boy but had not engaged in sexual activity with him.

Sentencing decision

During Friday’s sentencing hearing, the mother of four personally addressed the court and apologized for her actions.

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

“I take responsibility for my actions and again, I am so sorry.”

She has not worked as a teacher since she was charged in August 2023.

In victim impact statements read out earlier in court, the boy’s parents said they were haunted by feelings of failure at being unable to protect their son.

The boy’s father said he believed Valiquette’s communications with his son had been a “calculated and manipulative” attack to convince him he was living in an abusive home.

He said his relationship with his son has been damaged since the abuse.

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 came to light at a cost of $35,000, and will likely have to attend counseling for some time.

The defense had asked for a suspended sentence of two years minus one day, followed by probation, while the Crown argued for a five-year sentence.

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

Judge Palichuk said Valiquette had groomed the boy and taken significant steps to conceal her actions, adding that as a teacher she was in an important position of trust.

In addition to a four-year prison sentence, Valiquette risks a DNA warrant and a weapons ban.