Former teacher at Catholic all-girls school avoids jail after Vancouver police sex sting

A former Catholic school teacher accused of trying to pay teenagers for sex acts in Vancouver has avoided jail time by taking a plea deal.

Nikolaos Dais pleaded guilty in Vancouver Provincial Court on Wednesday to communicating for the purpose of obtaining sexual services. After a joint submission from the Crown and defence, he was sentenced to six months' probation.

He was one of 47 suspects arrested after a months-long Vancouver police operation in 2018. Detectives posing as girls aged between 15 and 17 years old posted ads with fake photos on escort sites and social media, arranging hotel meetings with suspects willing to pay a fee for an agreed sex act.

Suspects who showed up at the hotels were arrested by waiting officers.

Dais, who is in his mid-50s, was originally charged with the more serious offence of communicating with someone under the age of 18 for the purposes of obtaining sexual services.

He taught math at Little Flower Academy, an all-girls Catholic school in Vancouver's Shaughnessy neighbourhood, before his retirement.

At least seven men have been charged in relation to the 2018 sting. Police have said those arrested came from "all walks of life," including the retired school teacher, a former Vancouver school trustee and a firefighter.