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WEDNESDAY May 19, 2010
24
Coquitlam MetroFord tops a terrific season with a B.C. crown.
Your source for local news, sports, weather and entertainment. www.thenownews.com
Mother of alleged abuse victim speaks out She says school district failed her family: ‘Where’s the watchdog for our kids?’ Jennifer McFee jmcfee@thenownews.com The mother of a seven-year-old girl allegedly touched inappropriately by a substitute teacher says School District 43’s investigation process failed her family. On-call teacher Aleksandr Plehanov is facing four charges of sexual exploitation for allegedly touching seven- and eight-year-old girls at school. Three charges stem from March 10, 2010 allegations, while the fourth charge dates back to Oct. 13, 2009. A Coquitlam woman who cannot be named due to a publication ban contacted The NOW and alleged that her daughter was the victim of an alleged incident last fall. “When my daughter disclosed in October that she had been inappropriately touched, my
husband and I reported it to the school the next day,” the woman wrote in an e-mail. “An investigation into the disturbing allegations was launched by School District 43. We were told to trust the system. We did. We were told to believe in the process. We did.” But those feelings have since changed for the Coquitlam couple. In a phone interview Monday, the concerned mother said she went to the principal after her daughter told her about a situation at school. “She had told us about her day and one thing led to another … I can’t get into the specific details, but she said that she had had actually a fun day because lots of fun things had happened in the classroom, but a few weird things had happened too,” she said. “Then she started telling me about the weird things that happened.” A few days later, a district staff member
called the Grade 2 girl out of class and questioned her about what happened, said the mother. “After that point, I was actually quite upset that they had spoken to her without our knowledge,” she said. “And then at that point, I inquired about a name. I wanted to know the substitute teacher’s name for my records. I was told I was not allowed to know his name.” The mother said her daughter knew the substitute teacher only as “Mr. P,” a name the RCMP confirmed Plehanov was known by. According to the mother, however, other questions also went unanswered. “We have no idea what kind of discipline was taken or if any was taken because we’re not allowed to know. Mr. Plehanov is protected. We have no idea what kind of process is followed,” she said. “We’re told we’re not allowed to know any-
thing at all about anything. No one has ever talked to us about anything and has downright refused to speak to us.” She said she was “shocked, horrified, upset, angry” when three more girls came forward with similar allegations nearly five months later. The next day, she and her husband went to the police with their story. The local mom said they hadn’t gone sooner because they believed District 43 would involve the police. “I’m not into blaming an individual or individuals, but systemically something has to change when something of this nature is reported … The system never talked to us parents to reassure us. Any type of communication that I had with the school was upon my initiating it, and it was met with doors closing in front of me all the time,” she said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 9, see INVESTIGATION.
Coquitlam not keen on waste to energy John Kurucz
jkurucz@thenownews.com It’s not an outright rejection, but it’s not a shining endorsement either. The City of Coquitlam is asking Metro Vancouver to reconsider its preliminary endorsement of waste-toenergy technology, in light of the regional body’s move to endorse the technology as a means to deal with materials that can’t be diverted from the waste stream. The move comes as Metro Vancouver moves through the draft stages of its new solid waste management plan, which carries four main goals: reduce and reuse, recycle, recover energy and residual management. A staff report notes that while cities have been supportive of the aspects of reduce, reuse and recycle, the CONT. ON PAGE 4, see CITY.
Kevin Hill/NOW
The Wastech transfer station on United Boulevard is being phased out, and the city wants confirmation that a replacement will open by 2013.
ICBC claim? Press one:
or www.dbmlaw.ca 604.939.8321 Good advice. Good law. Good people.