London, Ont. high school teacher sent to prison for child porn

Former TVDSB teacher sentenced CTV News London’s Nick Paparella covers the sentencing of former TVDSB teacher Dustin Epp convicted of child porn charges.

Dustin Epp showed little emotion as the judge, crown attorney and family members of one of his victims addressed the court at his sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

The court heard how he had a sexual relationship with a female student from Oakridge Secondary School where he was employed as a computer science teacher in 2019.

In her victim impact statement, the sister of one of his victims told the court, “You [Epp] are a predator in our community and a predator in our school system.”

"You stole joy, you stole time, you stole innocence...a monster hiding in the dark,” she said.

The victim’s mother said she has suffered a stroke because of the ordeal her family has had to endure.

She said, “I fell apart just knowing the pain and suffering my daughter was going through... my daughter became emotionless and didn’t care about life...this is unforgivable.”

Last fall, Epp, 48, pleaded guilty to a number of charges including voyeurism, sexual interference involving a student and child pornography.

The court heard that when officers searched Epp’s home they found more than 40,000 images of child pornography.

Crown Attorney Meredith Gardiner said in all, four young women were targeted by Epp, “He [Epp] was in a position of trust and authority, he was their teacher.”

When asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, Epp said that he has sought counselling and even considered chemical castration and said, “I’m extremely sorry for the harm my bad decisions caused.”

Epp was supposed to be charged on Jan. 17 but he ended up skipping town and was found by police six days later in a Sudbury, Ont. hotel.

Before handing down his sentence, Justice Kevin McHugh said, “Mr. Epp’s behaviour in this case is abysmal.”

In a joint submission Epp was sentenced to a total of four-and-a-half years in prison.