Child pornography conviction leads to lifetime teaching ban for former B.C. school counsellor

A empty hallway is seen in a stock photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

A former counsellor at a B.C. high school who was convicted of possessing child pornography has been banned for life from teaching in the province’s K – 12 education system.

Joseph Scott William McLeod worked in the District of West Vancouver in January of 2021 when his home was searched as part of an investigation into “suspected child pornography offenses,” according to a consent resolution agreement with the British Columbia Commissioner for Teacher Regulation that was posted online Tuesday.

That month, he was suspended from his position by the district, and the following month he entered into an undertaking not to teach in the K-12 system in B.C., according to the agreement.

McLeod was charged in July 2021 and pleaded guilty the following year. A sentence of one year in jail and two years of probation was handed down in December of 2023, according to the professional regulator. In 2024, he was ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years but the agreement notes he is challenging that order in court.

“McLeod failed to act ethically and undermined the credibility of the teaching profession by violating laws that protect minors from sexual exploitation,” the agreement said.

The regulator proposed a lifetime ban for McLeod as an appropriate penalty for his “serious” professional misconduct, which he agreed to last month.