An Abbotsford teacher has been suspended from her job for five months for failing to report to school officials in 2009 that her husband had sent inappropriate text messages to a female student.
The suspension for Sandra Careen, a teacher at private Catholic school St. Jean Brebeuf Regional Secondary, is in effect from Sept. 1, 2013 to Jan. 31, 2014.
The decision was made through the provincial Teacher Regulation Branch.
Careen is the wife of Martin Careen, a former St. Jean Brebeuf teacher who was sentenced in May 2012 to six months in jail for sending the suggestive texts to the teen in the late evening and early morning of Jan. 27 and 28, 2009.
Martin Careen, 53, is no longer permitted to work in the Catholic school system, as determined by the Catholic Independent Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese (CISVA) following his conviction for invitation to sexual touching.
Sandra Careen was the teen's English and homeroom teacher at the time of the offence.
The day after the suggestive texts were sent, the teen met twice with Sandra Careen, telling her that she had received inappropriate messages from someone whom she initially refused to name, according to Teacher Regulation Branch documents.
On Jan. 30, 2009, the student met with Careen again, this time informing her that her husband was the author of the texts.
The documents state that Careen failed to report the matter to school officials, despite CISVA policy that "suspected child abuse, neglect or violence" immediately be disclosed.
The documents state that she also told her husband to keep quiet because it would be in the student's best interest for him to "let it go."
"Shortly thereafter, Sandra Careen inquired with her telecommunications service provider, Telus, whether she could obtain the text message records for her phone, but Telus refused to release the records."
Careen then changed her cellphone number, according to the Teacher Regulation Branch.
In June 2012, CISVA reported to the branch that it had given Careen a one-month suspension without pay, and required her to issue a written apology to the student.