Charlotte Helston is the Vernon reporter for InfoNews.
(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)
March 06, 2015 - 7:43 AM
The case of a Seattle ski coach who secretly videotaped his young students while they were changing at Silver Star Mountain is despicable, creepy, and vile, but perhaps the saddest part is that all those young girls were betrayed and let down by someone they trusted—their own teacher.
He wasn't a strange pervert looking through a peephole in the Rec Centre bathroom, it was a violation of trust and of the relationship between teacher and student. Jason Paur, a ski coach and occasional substitute teacher at a private school in Seattle, worked hard to build trust and admiration by his students. He was even asked to give the commencement address at a graduation ceremony.
The victim impact statements from the girls he spied on show how crushed they are by what he did. They said at one time, he was more than a teacher—he was a role model and a friend. Some felt abandoned at losing their coach. Others have trouble trusting people now. One said she spent hours crying over Paur’s decision to “make my teammates and myself victims.”
There’s no evidence Paur transmitted or shared the material online. It appears the voyeurism was his secret pleasure. Perhaps he thought he wasn’t hurting anyone. As long as no one found out, what harm would it cause? But of course he was caught and made victims of his students.
As their teacher, Paur had the chance to set a positive example for his students. He was known for organizing volunteer trail clearing and maintenance in the Cascade Mountains every year and doing unpaid coaching and tutoring. He could have inspired them. Instead, he showed them the worst of humanity and taught them not to trust anyone.
Click here and here for previous stories on Jason Paur.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015