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Hearings

Panels of the Discipline Committee have ordered summaries of recent disciplinary cases to be published in Professionally Speaking.


Member: Peter Lorne Cameron
Registration Number: 298717
Decision: Certificates Revoked

A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on February 14, 2005, into allegations of professional misconduct against Peter Lorne Cameron. Cameron was certified to teach in 1970 and was employed as a teacher in Buckingham, Quebec. The member did not attend the hearing and was not represented by counsel.

The member faced nine allegations of professional misconduct related to his conviction for sexual assault on a number of male students.

In the absence of the member, the chair of the panel entered a plea of not guilty on Cameron's behalf.

The panel heard evidence that in June 2002, Cameron was charged in Quebec with 13 counts of indecent assault on eight male students. The assaults occurred between September 1975 and June 1977 when the students were 12 and 13 years of age.

In September 2003, Cameron pleaded guilty to eight counts of sexual assault.

In November 2004, Cameron was sentenced to a prison term of two years less a day and ordered to pay $3,000 to cover the cost of his victims' therapeutic or psychological treatment.

The panel found the member guilty of professional misconduct and ordered that his Certificates of Qualification and Registration be revoked.

The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register.


Member: Gordon Samuel Thomas
Registration Number: 320722
Decision: Certificates Revoked

A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on February 3, 2005, into allegations of professional misconduct against Gordon Samuel Thomas. Thomas was certified to teach in 1961 and was employed as a vice-principal, acting principal and teacher by the Algoma District School Board. The member did not attend the hearing and was not represented by counsel.

The member faced eight allegations of professional misconduct related to his conviction for sexual assault on a number of female students.

The panel received an agreed statement of facts, a plea of no contest and a joint submission on penalty in which Thomas acknowledged that he was found guilty in February 2003 on 21 counts of sexual assault, indecent assault and gross indecency against 14 former female students. The assaults took place over 20 years from 1965 to 1985.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Thomas was sentenced to 12 years in prison, which was reduced to nine years on appeal. The court also ordered a new trial on nine of the charges. The appeal court upheld the findings of guilt on charges of assault on four former students between 11 and 16 years of age.

The panel found the member guilty of professional misconduct and directed the Registrar to revoke Thomas's Certificates of Qualification and Registration.

The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register.


Member: Michael Votskos
Registration Number: 159879
Decision: Certificates Revoked

A panel of the Discipline Committee held a public hearing on February 14, 2005, into allegations of professional misconduct against Michael Votskos. Votskos was certified to teach in 1986 and was employed as a teacher by the Toronto District School Board. The member did not attend the hearing but was represented by counsel.

The member faced six allegations of professional misconduct related to a sexual relationship with an adult student and viewing pornography on school computers.

The panel received an agreed statement of facts in which Votskos admitted that during the 1994-95 academic year he engaged in sexual intercourse on two occasions with a 28-year-old adult student of the school. Votskos received a written reprimand from his board and was suspended for one day without pay.

In 1999, while employed at another school, and in the 2001-02 school year, Votskos used computers under his own user name and that of colleagues to view photographs of nude women and view sexually explicit web sites, and to solicit sex partners and receive sexually explicit e-mails. This behaviour continued despite warnings and reprimands.

The board terminated Votskos's employment in May 2003.

The panel found Votskos guilty of professional misconduct and ordered his Certificates of Qualification and Registration revoked.

The decision of the panel appears on the College's public register.

Glossary of terminology

The vocabulary used to report disciplinary hearings reflects their quasi-judicial nature. If you wonder what some terms mean, help is at hand.

For past and future reference, the College has posted a glossary of terms on its web site. A link to the glossary can be found on the decision-summary page.

Visit www.oct.ca Investigations/Hearings Hearing Decision Summaries Glossary of Terms.

Professionally Speaking reported the first College disciplinary hearings in the Blue Pages of its June 1998 edition. Summaries are also posted on the College web site at www.oct.ca.