Former Dunmore high school teacher receives three-year sentence for sexual exploitation of a student

The sentencing hearing for Rebecca McCubbin at the Court of King’s Bench came after she changed her plea to guilty last October.

The identity of the victim is protected through a court-ordered publication ban.

McCubbin took advantage of a vulnerable child at Eagle Butte High School in 2021, said two people close to the student who gave victim impact statements.

Prosecutor Jase Cowan said three years imprisonment is towards the lower end of what he considered an appropriate range.

However, both the Crown and the defense agreed three years would not put the “administration of justice into disrepute” in a joint submission to the court.

McCubbin changed from a not guilty to guilty plea before a trial could get underway last fall.

That saved the victim from having to testify, Cowan said. The defense said it avoided an “ugly” trial.

Before she was formally sentenced, McCubbin said she was “deeply sorry” in a statement to the court.

McCubbin was also prohibited from communicating with the victim and ordered to register her DNA.

McCubbin was escorted out of the courtroom into custody.

AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS

According to an agreed statement of facts read in court last October, there were six occasions of kissing and sexual touching that occurred between January 26 and March 8, 2021.

Court heard how McCubbin and the victim started connecting through “Google Meet” platform as some school work was being done remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The student began confiding in McCubbin about her struggles with the significant loss of a loved one who had passed away a few years earlier.

The student felt she could not confide in other family members and thought McCubbin was a good listener.

Over the course of several weeks, McCubbin and the student began having daily personal conversations through Google Meet, phone, and Facebook Messenger that would last for hours.

The student visited McCubbin at her home. The former teacher also picked up the teen from her extra-curricular activity and brought her back to her place.

On March 8, 2021, the student received what she characterized as a love letter from McCubbin. It stated the former teacher felt their relationship could be different if the teen was an adult. McCubbin disputes the characterization.

After their last interaction, the student began struggling with mental health challenges for various reasons according to court documents.

Worried her father would find out about their relationship, the student called McCubbin and asked her to delete any messages between the two on Facebook. McCubbin complied with the request.

Concerned about the unusual relationship between his daughter and McCubbin, the father contacted the school but the teen denied to school staff and others that their relationship was unusual.

Eventually the teen began a new relationship with a male student. In the fall of 2021, the student struggled seeing McCubbin regularly and ended up confiding in a trusted adult what had happened.

The adult filed a report with the Medicine Hat Police in December of 2021. The case was turned over to Redcliff RCMP, who arrested and charged McCubbin three days later.

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If you or someone you know is impacted by a crime sexual in nature, call 1-866-403-8000 to access crisis or other support services. There is also the Kids Helpine which is available 24/7 at 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868.

by Eli J. Ridder | @EliRidder

Former Dunmore high school teacher receives three-year sentence for sexual exploitation of a student

AGREED STATEMENT OF FACTS

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