Former West Kelowna teacher faces 71-month sentence

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Bradley Furman

A former West Kelowna teacher who had sex with a student multiple times over many months showed a “complete disregard for the authority of the court” when he continued the physical relationship for 13 months after his release on bail, the Crown prosecutor said Tuesday.

Bradley Furman’s sentencing hearing began Monday after he pleaded guilty in March to sexual exploitation, attempting to pervert justice, and three counts of breaching his bail conditions, before pleading guilty again in September to six counts of breaching his bail conditions and once again attempting to obstruct justice.

The physical relationship between the Mount Boucherie Secondary teacher and the Grade 12 student began after the 2018 spring break, starting with increasingly explicit text messages, before leading to multiple sexual encounters both at the school and at Furman's home, until staff began noticing something was off in May 2018, leading to Furman's arrest.

While he was released on bail, with an order to not contact the student, he continued to Skype with her daily, regularly meeting up with her for sex from June 2018 until July 2019. He was arrested for breaching bail conditions four times before he was finally kept in custody this past summer.

On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor David Grabavac said it's tough to determine how many times Furman made contact with the student after the no-contact order was issued, but it could be in excess of 100 times.

“We don't know how many times they had physical contact,” Grabavac said. “We do know during the summer (of 2018) they met for sex two or three times a week.”

The Crown is seeking a total sentence of 71 months, or close to six years. 

During sentencing submissions Tuesday, psychologist Dr. Matthew Burnett said that the 30-year-old Furman appears to have had difficulties forming relationships with other adults, instead feeling more comfortable with adolescents.

While Furman showed little emotion through Tuesday's hearing, he began to quietly cry in the prisoner's box during this part of Dr. Burnett's testimony.

Burnett said Furman showed “poor teacher-student boundaries” and that during their discussions, Furman appeared to not understand the gravity of the charges he faced.

“He sort of felt the imposed (bail) sanctions were overly onerous, too restrictive ... it was sort of a less developed understanding of consequence and result.”

Despite not appearing to fully appreciate the gravity of his crimes, Furman did tell Dr. Burnett that he was concerned the student may feel she had been “used.”