Teacher jailed for sex with boys and sending them lewd photos
A Canadian middle-school teacher has been jailed for two years after she was convicted of sending nude photos to, and engaging in sexual acts with a succession of teens aged 13 to 18.
She says it began after the boys blackmailed her.
Jaclyn McLaren, 36, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation, two counts of luring, possession of child pornography and making explicit material available to people under 18 and people under 16.
Ontario Provincial Police originally laid 42 charges against McLaren last year as a result of offences that occurred from 2013 to early 2016 against young people between the ages of 12 and 15 in Tweed, Ontario in Canada.
She was a French teacher for grades 6 to 8 at a Hastings and Prince Edward District school.
Her bosses had warned her in 2013 to stop carrying on as social media friends with her students, prosecutor Lynn Ross told an earlier hearing.
The court heard that the incidents began after a male student found nude photos of her while using her phone in class - allegedly starting a blackmail scheme that ended with her sleeping with several students, CBC reported.
The court heard the boy showed the nude pictures to his friends during a class she was teaching.
It was alleged that after McLaren, who also goes by the name Jaclyn Jones, asked him to give the phone back to her, one of the boys demanded more pictures in exchange for their silence.
She admitted to sending photos of her breasts in 2014 to one of the boys, who was then 13, using Snapchat.
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Another boy said he also received pictures on Snapchat in the summer of 2014, when he was 14, but McLaren said those photos were sent the following year.
She admitted that she later met both boys on a local trail, where she drank beer with them and took them back to her car, where she "fondled and kissed" them.
McLaren, who married in 2010, performed a sex act on them separately later and one sent her a photo of his genitalia, the court heard.
It was unclear how long after the original pictures this incident occurred.
Director of Education for the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, Mandy Savery-Whiteway, issued a statement about the situation.
"We are aware that sentencing took place today for Jaclyn McLaren. We recognise that this has been a challenging and difficult situation for everyone involved. Employee matters are confidential. No further details will be released at this time."
Eight students came forward during the trial with six claiming they received nude photos from McLaren.
She had sex with one of them when he turned 18 after initially sending him nude photos of herself when he was 15.
One student showed police screenshots of McLaren's breasts, with her face visible.
One of the boys was not a student of McLaren's and was 16 when she sent him photos, the court heard.
Another boy, a 17-year-old, said that she sent him photos of her breasts and a video of herself nude and performing a sex act.
Canadian courts don't allow someone to be convicted twice of the same crime, leading to her charges reducing in number.
McLaren has been jailed for two years as a result.
She is banned from using social media, and can't be in contact with anyone under 18 online, CTV News Toronto said.
Playgrounds or public places where children are likely to be are off limits for ten years after release.
The ex-teacher will also be registered as a sex offender and has been ordered to undergo 'sexual treatment'.
