A former Delta elementary school teacher, sentenced last year in a child pornography case, has received a lifetime teaching ban.
Surrey resident Elazar Reshef, who taught in the Delta School District at Gray Elementary, has entered into a consent resolution with the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation in which Reshef agrees that his conduct constitutes professional misconduct and conduct unbecoming and is contrary to a number of standards of the Professional Standards for BC Educators.
In the ruling, released this week on the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation website, Reshef agreed that he would never again apply for, and the Director of Certification would not issue him a certificate of qualification, an independent school teaching certificate or other authorization at any time in the future.
In determining that a lifetime ban on reapplication is an appropriate consequence, the Commisioner considered the following factor: “the conduct was at the serious end of the spectrum.”
In late 2020, Reshef pled guilty to the charge of possession of child pornography. Crown counsel ordered a stay of proceedings on two counts of making or publishing child pornography. Then in early February 2021, he was given an 18-month conditional sentence for possession of child pornography.
Information about the police investigation came to the public’s attention in July 2020.
According to a news release from Surrey RCMP at the time, the investigation began in March 2019, as a result of a notification received from an electronic service provider, which alleged that an account user had child pornography in their possession.
Surrey RCMP ICE immediately launched an investigation. Following an extensive review and forensic analysis of the evidence, charges were approved by the BC Prosecution Services and information sworn against Reshef on July 2.
“Reshef has been in direct contact with children during his work as a teacher in the Delta School District. As a result, the Surrey RCMP are releasing this information in the interest of public safety and to further the police investigation,” said RCMP in the July 2020 news release.
The Delta School District also issued a statement to the Optimist at the time the charges were laid against Reshef.
“In July 2019, upon hearing that Mr. Reshef was being investigated by the police we took immediate action to remove him from any interactions with students within the school district,” said the Delta School District statement. “This individual has not been at work since July 2019 and has not been permitted on Delta School District property since that time.”