District denies wrongdoing, countersues ex-teacher who sexually touched students

A New Brunswick school district says in a court filing that a background check didn't raise concerns about a man it hired who went on to sexually touch students in Moncton-area schools.

The Anglophone East district education council and Stephen Riley Blackwood are being sued by the family of a student allegedly sexually touched by Blackwood while he worked as a supply teacher in 2022.

The case alleges the district failed to check Blackwood's history before hiring him. Records from Blackwood's criminal case say a Newfoundland school district dropped him as a teacher over concerns about his behaviour prior to his  move to New Brunswick. 

Anglophone East's statement of defence filed last month says Blackwood underwent "appropriate background and criminal record checks," which "did not reveal any information which could have led the [district] to suspect the Defendant Blackwood's propensity for the inappropriate behaviour" alleged in the lawsuit.

Blackwood admitted sex crime charges and was sentenced last year. None of the incidents he admitted involved intercourse or touching genitalia. 

Case alleges district liable

The family of one of his victims sued in civil court following the conclusion of the criminal case. The lawsuit alleges Blackwood sexually touched the student while working as a supply teacher at Maplehurst Middle School in Moncton in October 2022.

The case alleges the district is vicariously liable for Blackwood's actions because it was his employer.

It alleges Anglophone East was negligent and failed in its duty to the student because it didn't properly investigate his background, lacked policies to make Blackwood's behaviour less likely, and had a system designed to cover ,up behaviour like Blackwood's if it was reported.

The case also alleges the district should have known about Blackwood's behaviour because of online information about him, the concerns of students, teachers and other school members, and his interest in young children, and because of "legal proceedings in other provinces." The document doesn't elaborate on those proceedings.

The district's response to the lawsuit denies the allegations, denies the student suffered harm, and asks that the case be dismissed. It also filed a counter lawsuit against Blackwood seeking to have him cover costs resulting from the case. 

Anglophone East's filing says Blackwood worked for the district for nine days at five schools. 

A court document filed in his criminal case outlined what he admitted. The document says concerns arose about him when he worked as a teacher in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was a substitute teacher in the St. John's metro region over nine years.

"Blackwood's actions at the Paul Reynolds Aquatic Centre - St. John's, Nfld. in November 2021 resulted in him being banned from all municipally run pools and removed from the substitute teacher list," said the the document submitted to a judge during Blackwood's sentencing hearing. The document doesn't explain what those "actions" involved.

Blackwood posted multiple videos to social media over several years, under the name "blamzooka," featuring children at water parks in Ontario and New Brunswick, beaches in various locations, and the Pointe-du-Chêne wharf near Shediac.

The court heard during his criminal case that Blackwood's "behaviour" dates to at least 2017 as documented by police forces in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario. 

District says it acted 'immediately'

Blackwood's criminal case heard that staff at a school near Moncton were alerted by a student about his behaviour in early November 2022. A judge was told the school's principal "contacted human resources to have Mr. Blackwood removed from the supply teacher list for that school."

Blackwood was teaching the following day at a different school, where he admitted he touched another student, according to what he admitted in the criminal case.

However, the district's filing in the civil case says it acted "appropriately and immediately, in accordance with all policies and procedures in place, upon receiving a complaint of inappropriate behaviour."

Blackwood denies allegations

Blackwood filed a statement of defence last fall denying wrongdoing. 

The document says he pleaded guilty to the criminal charges because of his mental health and because his lawyer advised him he risked a longer sentence if he stood trial.

Judge Suzanne Bernard sentenced Blackwood to 3½ years in custody in March last year, which was reduced to 18 months because of the time spent in custody between arrest and sentencing.

Bernard said during his sentencing that Blackwood essentially used his position as a supply teacher to gain access to the children. 

"The children trusted him," the judge said. "They had no reason not to."

Blackwood's teaching certificate in New Brunswick was permanently suspended in April 2024, according to a provincial registry.