A Vancouver ex-band instructor has been permanently barred from teaching following his admission to sexually assaulting a student. Robert Kyle Ledingham is prohibited from reapplying for a teaching license in British Columbia after confessing to a charge of sexual assault in May 2024, as per a consent agreement by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation. Ledingham, who had been a certified teacher since May 2008, was initially accused of two counts of sexual exploitation and one count of sexual assault in September 2020.
According to the agreement, the accusations revolved around a student who volunteered at a high school within the Vancouver School District where Ledingham led the high school band between April and June 2019. The student’s identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, and they attended a different high school from Ledingham’s teaching location.
Following his plea of guilty to a single count of sexual assault in May 2024, the other charges against the band teacher were dropped. He was sentenced to a 15-month conditional sentence, with one of the conditions being a prohibition from seeking employment involving authority over individuals under 18. Ledingham was subsequently terminated by the Vancouver School District in November 2024.
In the consent agreement, the former band teacher acknowledged his actions as professional misconduct and agreed to a lifetime ban on applying for a teaching certificate.