GRANDE PRAIRIE (CANADA)
Edmonton Journal [Edmonton AB, Canada]
August 5, 2026
By Tina Kennedy
The ex-educator will serve her jail sentence at the Edmonton Institution for Women and has been registered as a sex offender
Former education assistant Brooke Richer has been sentenced to 34 months in prison for sexually exploiting a student at a Grande Prairie Catholic school.
The ex-educator will serve her jail sentence at the Edmonton Institution for Women and has been registered as a sex offender.
Justice Kristan McLeod, Court of King’s Bench, delivered the facts of the case while highlighting those impacting her decision during a July 31 hearing.
Richer started work at a Grande Prairie and District Catholic School District as an educational assistant on September 7, 2023. The unnamed Grande Prairie student was not assigned to her. But, her work did cross over and she had helped him.
Twenty-one days after she started the job, the then 23-year-old Richer invited the 16-year-old student to her home for sex.
Richer’s breach of trust was significant as an educational assistant, the court heard. She abused that position and its inherent authority the prosecution argued.
Before the court sentenced the 26-year-old mother of two, the defence countered that had Richer not been an educational assistant at the time of the incident, there would be no crime.
The court heard the pair communicated via social media through texts, photos and verbal conversations. Their Snapchat messages also demonstrated the relationship between the student and assistant.
Richer sent photos of herself in lingerie. The student sent a photo of his genitals. Then the woman sent the teen an invitation to her house and sex. He accepted and they had intercourse.
They talked of having another encounter, with Richer making a point of asking the teen to be more discreet at school, including his prompting her to read her texts.
Later in the court appearances, Richer pleaded guilty to sexual interference under Section 153 of the Canadian Criminal Code – applying to a person in a position of trust and the sexual exploitation of a young person between the age of 16 and 18.
It was a late plea because a Charter of Rights issue related to evidence gathering. Once resolved, Richer pleaded guilty and two other charges were dropped.
“Admitting that between September 23rd and 28, 2023, while being in a position of trust or authority towards the victim, (name omitted) she touched him for a sexual purpose,” said McLeod at sentencing.
Richer underwent a psychological evaluation by forensic psychologist Dr. Liam Ennis during the proceedings as well.
He determined she’d been exposed to significant violence in her home and developed unhealthy relationships as she aged. He also questioned a previous diagnosis of ADHD and himself diagnosed her with borderline personality disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Dr. Ennis explicitly linked the formation of Ms. Richer’s mental health disorders as arising from her early experiences of trauma and unhealthy relationships and further linked her symptoms of her mental health diagnoses with her offending behaviour,” McLeod said in court.
“Ms. Richer’s other intimate relationships have been nearly uniformly unhealthy, and sometimes degrading and violent.”
The report also revealed that Richer didn’t commit the act for sexual gratification, she added. Instead, it was a misguided goal to satisfy others so she could feel love and acceptance.
Ennis assessed the likelihood of her reoffending as low.
The Crown and defence requested four and three year sentences, respectively. McLeod considered Richer’s previous clean record, a guilty guilty plea, efforts to seek mental health treatment, the findings submitted by Dr. Ennis, and, collateral consequences in sentencing.
Also noted was the collateral consequence of her extensive public notoriety. While it can support sentencing aims, the significant publicity was a collateral consequence.
“The degree in notoriety of stigma here is illustrated by Ms. Richer’s experience of shopping with her five-year-old, and a member of the public calling police to report a crime,” McLeod said. “Police attended, she was questioned, and not charged.”
While they lessen the impact, Richer is morally culpable, the court was told. The aggravating circumstances include communications and the sexualized images with the student.
The substantial psychological harm inflicted on the victim and his family was outlined in a victim impact statement from the student’s mother.
McLeod emphasized that in no way should the victim be blamed for either the offending behaviour or its circumstances, including the failure to use a condom.
She added that that grievance is an aggravating factor, but because of the lack of further facts on those, it does have a lower significance because of the offender sex.
She said the victim felt confused and blamed himself. His mother described the fallout for her family was substantial and she grieves his loss of teen experiences and worries about the future impact.
The court was told the case is an example of the effects sex crimes against young people can have on their communities.
“The abuse of the position of trust, Ms. Richer held, is included in the offence, and is why this is an egregious and condemnable crime, or the incarceration,” McLeod said.