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Former teacher and convicted sex offender headed back to jail

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A former Kamloops teacher and convicted sex offender is headed back to jail for having sex with a minor.

Brett Anthony Nelson, 52, will serve two years less a day in prison and three years probation after pleading guilty today in B.C. Supreme Court on charges of sexual interference of person under 16 and breach of a probation order.

The decision by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Hope Hyslop came after a joint submission by Crown prosecutor Will Burrows and defence lawyer Rob Bruneau.

The Crown said Nelson returned to Kamloops after being released from his prison sentence for luring a teenager using the Internet. RCMP had learned of the contact between Nelson and the female minor from the girl's friend.

She reported her knowledge of sexual relations between the two, and they later discovered that the minor was one of the girls Nelson had been prohibited from contacting following his prior conviction.

"Mr. Nelson was aware that at the time she was only 15," Burrows said. Nelson expressed remorse to the courts, victims and families.

"I take full responsibility for what I did," Nelson said. "My mental state aside, I am a responsible adult."

Bruneau said that Nelson suffered from depression and that anti-depression medication didn't help.

He also told court that while Nelson takes responsibility for his actions, he alleges that the girl instigated the communications between the two.

Bruneau also noted that Nelson's wife sat in the courtroom gallery despite having been formally separated from him as a result of the incident.

He said the joint submission was "in the public interest" and asked Hyslop to consider sending Nelson back to Ford Mountain, a provincial correctional facility in Chilliwack, specializing in sex offenders or mentally disordered offenders.

"Despite this relapse, he feels… the help he got there is good for him," Bruneau said.

Hyslop went with the joint submission, sentencing Nelson to two years less a day. Hyslop said she would recommend Nelson serve at Ford Mountain, followed by three years of probation with strict rules about where he can live and what he can do.

He is prohibited from visiting public parks, daycares, community centres, playgrounds, pools and skating rinks where any person of 16 years old or less may attend.

He is prohibited from contacting all parties involved, accessing a mobile device with internet capabilities unless for work purposes, contacting and communicating with any person 16 years old or younger without supervision by an adult.

He is also expected to contribute bodily fluids for DNA testing, attend counselling as recommended by his probation officer and will be registered for life as a sexual offender.

To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca or call (250) 319-7494.

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