Parents react after Calgary-area teacher arrested for sex offences against student

“Disturbing” and “scary” are just some of the words parents at a Calgary-area high school are using a day after news broke that a teacher was arrested and charged for sexual offences against a student.

Cochrane RCMP arrested 49-year-old math teacher Timothy Bailey at Springbank Community High School on Tuesday following an investigation that started when a female student reported inappropriate behavior.

Bailey, 49, who has worked at the school just west of Calgary since 2003, is charged with child luring, making sexually explicit material available to a child, and sexual exploitation.

Several who parents who asked to remain anonymous told CityNews Thursday that their children were taught by the suspect. Many saying once news broke on Wednesday they had a talk with their kids.

One parent says his family is fortunate that his son did not have any interactions with Bailey, but says they are still waiting for more information.

“We had a general conversation with our son surrounding it,” he says. “We discussed the potentials. There’s no information about it currently right now and he is well aware.”

“Some of the kids are talking and just to basically keep to yourself and wait for the outcome of the final report out from the police.”

Experts say it is important for parents to respond to any sudden extreme changes in behaviour that they recognize in their children.

But beyond that, they say parents should also act and go to authorities when they see unusual behavior among adults.

“Looking for bias in terms of the amount of time people are spending with children of certain ages or genders, inappropriate communications that are outside the role like texting late at night, not about appropriate subject matter,” says Karen Orser, CEO of Luna Child & Youth Advocacy Centre.

Orser says it’s a good reminder to normalize speaking with kids about what is and isn’t appropriate conduct with teachers and other authority figures.

“Sometimes these situations can escalate,” she says. “What seems for children to be fairly innocent at first can escalate into something that crosses the line.”

Peter Choate is a social work professor at Mount Royal University and he agrees that normalizing these types of chats with children is important. He says there are a lot of factors that make kids reluctant to come forward with abuse.

“The biggest one is shame, the next biggest one is associated with threats, that harm will come if you tell,” he says.

He says kids who have been abused are often fearful about what’s going to happen to them if they come forward.

Orser says while incidents like the one at Springbank Community High School may scare parents, it’s important to remember schools are still safe.

“We work really closely with schools and we know that schools are actually generally one of the safest places for our kids to be,” she says. “We do want parents to know that schools are so proactive and work really hard to make sure that they are providing safe spaces for kids.”

RCMP are continuing to investigate Bailey and believe there could be more victims.

Anyone with further information is being urged to reach out to police.

With files from Dione Wearmouth