Police investigated former West Van teacher for 'inappropriate' messages with students

Police investigated teacher

Photo: Cindy Goodman, North Shore News files.

An investigation was launched by West Vancouver Police Department in September 2021.

West Vancouver police say it conducted a "thorough" investigation into a former teacher who was recently issued a five-year teaching ban.

Back in September 2024, a three-person panel for B.C.'s teacher regulation branch found Jeffrey Forden Mooney guilty of professional misconduct. The school where Mooney taught is not disclosed in the ruling.

Mooney quit teaching in October 2021 — a few months after "inappropriate" electronic messages with "sexual innuendos" and "personally invasive comments" were discovered between him and four female students. 

He sent messages to the students via the school's Google Chat education platform and Instagram, between June and July 2021. The girls were between 12 and 13 years old and in Grade 7 at the time.

Mooney has held a teaching certificate since 2016.

The West Vancouver Police Department was contacted the month before Mooney quit teaching. 

“In September 2021, WVPD received a report of a local teacher messaging inappropriately with former students,” said Sgt. Chris Bigland. "Detectives from WVPD’s Major Investigations Team conducted a thorough investigation and determined that the threshold to recommend criminal charges was not met.”

The Ministry of Children and Family Development was notified.

“The investigation was left to the school to investigate, and the police file was concluded,” said Bigland. 

B.C.'s teacher regulation branch handed Mooney a five-year ban from applying to teach on Feb. 12, 2025. It will last until February 2030.

"The West Vancouver Police Department takes these reports seriously, to address the safety concerns of the complainants but also to keep safe any other students who may have been at risk,” added Bigland. 

Anyone who believes they’ve been a victim of a crime is encouraged to report it to the police.