Alberta Teachers’ Association knew of sexual abuse accusations of former teacher, says police

WARNING: The content in this article may be distressing to some readers. 

Calgary police are releasing more details into sexual assault charges that were laid against former Calgary teacher Michael Gregory.

Gregory was charged with 17 counts of sexual assault in Feb. 2021 in connection with multiple reports from students spanning over several years.

Not long after charges were laid, Gregory took his own life.

Police say, since initial charges were laid, 10 additional victims stepped forward and they received calls from more than 30 witnesses.

“It was important for us as an agency to continue to investigate and understand the level of abuse committed by Gregory,” said Det. Timothy Fitzgibbon. “This is to ensure victims feel heard and examine how to work with our community partners to help prevent students from being victimized in the future.”

Police have also learned a complaint had been made to the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) against Gregory on an unrelated matter, and found they had spoken to him about his behaviour with students.

Late last year, CityNews learned the ATA was made aware of separate instances of misconduct by Gregory, who admitted to them more than a decade ago. Among the misconduct were acts of headbutting students, pummelling them on the ground, and force-feeding them his belly button hair.

Through witness statements and evidence gathered by investigators, police concluded the ATA also knew about the sexual abuse allegations.

Ongoing $40M lawsuit

In Dec. 2021, former students of Gregory announced they were launching a class-action lawsuit against the Calgary Board of Education and Gregory’s estate, seeking damages amounting to $40 million.

The lawsuit says the CBE should have reported allegations sooner and the actions of the board effectively discouraged victims from coming forward.

The lawsuit also alleges Gregory, who was a grade 7 to 9 teacher at John Ware Junior High, would groom female students, engaged in sexual relations with them, took students to his home, and subjected them to inappropriate behaviour in classes or on field trips.

One plaintiff, Kelly Schneider, said she was groomed by Gregory starting in 1989 when she was 14 years old. While she was in grades 8 and 9, she said they developed a sexual relationship and would also engage in “strange tactics to build intimacy.”

WATCH: Former students of Michael Gregory sue the Calgary Board of Education, Gregory’s estate.

A couple of incidents detailed in the lawsuit indicated that Gregory sexualized Schneider in the classroom, and in one case he and another teacher threw her in the teachers’ shower with her clothes on following a volleyball game.

Schneider said she told other people about what was happening but nothing was done. She says she was manipulated to discourage her from speaking out further.

“This man is a pedophile and he is a monster. And never, ever should have been able to continue to do what he doing for as long as he was doing it,” she said, with tears welling up.

Schneider broke down in tears, and fellow plaintiff Cody Bonkowsky hugged her. He said while he was not directly abused by Gregory, he saw what was going on and was also ignored when trying to bring the concerns forward.

Related article: ‘He is a monster’: Former students sue CBE for failing to investigate abusive teacher

Alberta’s minister of education blasted the ATA on Twitter last year after it came to light that it didn’t report the abuse.

In a series of tweets, Minister Adriana LaGrange says nothing is off the table when it comes to student safety.

“Like many Albertans, I was extremely concerned to hear the allegations that have been brought forward regarding a former Calgary Board of Education teacher,” she said in her first of several tweets.

I am absolutely committed to further improving the teacher discipline process.

To be clear- nothing is off the table when it comes to student safety. 7/7

— Adriana LaGrange (@AdrianaLaGrange) November 30, 2021

LaGrange makes it clear she won’t hesitate to mandate the need for school boards and the ATA to cooperate with authorities in criminal cases or if criminal behaviour is involved.

“We trust teachers with our children every day and when this trust is broken, it needs to be taken seriously, and action needs to happen.”