Lifetime teaching ban for former B.C. school counsellor after child porn conviction

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. – A former high-school counsellor has been given a lifetime ban from teaching in British Columbia after he was convicted of possessing child pornography.

A document outlining an agreement between the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation and Joseph Scott William McLeod says they have agreed McLeod will never apply for any provincial K-12 teaching authorization in the future.

The agreement also says authorization will never again be issued to McLeod, who was a counsellor in School District 45 in West Vancouver, B.C., in January 2021 when police searched his home as part of a child porn investigation.

The document says McLeod was charged and pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography, for which he was sentenced to one year in prison and two years’ probation.

It says the West Vancouver school district suspended then terminated McLeod’s employment.

The agreement says the Commissioner for Teacher Regulation deemed McLeod’s case “at the serious end of the spectrum” and that McLeod “undermined the credibility of the teaching profession” by breaking laws aimed at protecting minors from sexual exploitation.

“McLeod acknowledges that he has voluntarily entered into this agreement with the benefit of independent legal advice, and that he fully understands the terms and conditions set out in this agreement,” the document says.

The agreement also says McLeod agrees to not make any statement “which contradicts, disputes or calls into question” the deal’s terms and the admissions made in the case.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2025.