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A BC teacher who sent sexually explicit photos of himself to a student he met on Tinder has been banned from teaching for 15 years.

According to an Aug. 1 BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation decision, Neil Stewart Holmes exchanged messages of a sexual nature with two grads and a current student while working as a teacher on Vancouver Island between 2014 and 2016.

In the first instance in 2014, Holmes contacted a student through Facebook right after she graduated.

"Holmes and (the) student began using Facebook Messenger where they exchanged messages and photographs of a sexual nature," the decision reads. "At one point, Holmes sent (the) student a photograph of his classroom, indicating that this was a place where he would like to have sex with (her)."

A year later, and two months before another student was going to graduate, that student sent Holmes a message on Tinder.

Holmes knew the teenager was a student at his school, but began sending text messages to her of a sexual nature.

"In June 2015, before (the) student graduated from the School, Holmes sent (the) student two sexually explicit photos of himself," the decision says.

READ MORE: BC teacher met student on dating app, then lied to investigators

The following year in the spring of 2016, Holmes began messaging another former student of his who was now 18 years old and had graduated the summer before.

"They exchanged text messages, which included communication of a sexual nature by Holmes," the decision reads.

Later that summer the teenager he'd met on Tinder posted a "warning" on Facebook that not all teachers at the school were good people. Holmes' name was attached to the post.

He then contacted the former student and asked her to remove the post or he would go to the police.

It's unclear when the school learnt about Holmes messaging the teens, but it wasn't until five years later, in 2021, that he was placed on paid leave.

READ MORE: BC teacher let student live with them, made sexual comments

At the end of the school year, he was put on unpaid leave and he later resigned in January 2022.

The decision doesn't say what school Holmes taught at but says he worked for the Nanaimo Ladysmith school district and became a teacher in BC in 2006.

Holmes signed a consent agreement admitting to his behaviour.

"Holmes failed to maintain teacher-student boundaries by engaging in inappropriate communication of a sexual nature with current and former students," the teaching regulator said.

READ MORE: BC teacher who demeaned vulnerable student reprimanded

Ultimately, the teaching regulator banned him from teaching for 15 years.

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