A girl in Grade 2 at Bramblewood elementary school in 2009 told her mother that her substitute teacher was "kinda weird," the mother testified Tuesday.
The trial of Aleksandr Plehanov, a 37-year-old Burnaby resident and former Coquitlam substitute teacher, entered its second week Monday with testimony from two of the five students allegedly touched, as well as from parents, the Bramblewood teacher and a psychologist.
"She said she had fun that day and... it was weird because all the girls were being called up," the mother said of her daughter's report on her school day Oct. 13, 2009. "Mr. P" checked their work and had spinning tops for the kids to play with, a toy that alleged victims from Glen elementary also reported being brought into the classroom by Plehanov.
"I felt she wanted to tell me something... so I kept asking her questions," the mother testified.
Her daughter, who is alleged to have witnessed Plehanov touching a classmate, told her mother one girl in particular was getting a lot of attention because "she was acting like a baby and he seemed to like that and she sat on his lap." Alarmed, the woman approached Bramblewood principal Brenda Walker later that week to tell her what had happened.
Both she and her daughter were interviewed in November 2009 by a psychologist hired by School District 43 as part of its internal investigation into the incident but it wasn't until the following March that they spoke to police. The woman happened to call an old friend and co-worker on March 10, 2010 just after that woman's daughter told her Plehanov had touched her on the bottom that day.
"She was very distraught," she said of her friend, the mother who first called police when her daughter, a Grade 3 Glen elementary student, reported the alleged touching.
Earlier Tuesday, the court heard from psychologist Michael Elterman, who had interviewed both the alleged victim from Bramblewood and the witness, as well as their parents. Elterman said the school board asked him to address three specific questions: what the children had reported; his opinion regarding the consistency of each child's information; and his opinion on the impact of the incident on each student.
Crown prosecutor Wendy Van Tongeren Harvey noted the contents of his report were not being addressed; rather, his testimony would mainly serve as a bridge between the time the alleged victim reported the incident to her parents in October 2009 and to police in March 2010.
Elterman said the girl was outgoing, relaxed and had no difficulty remembering the events of Oct. 13.
The girl's mother testified Monday that her daughter, an eight-year-old Grade 2 student at the time, said that her "fun" substitute teacher had let her be his "special helper" and twice had her sit on his lap. She also said he'd rubbed her stomach underneath her shirt, as well as under the waistline of her pants, which she felt was "weird."
The mom further testified that on June 8, 2010, she spotted Plehanov in a dark BMW outside her home and called 911.
"I was distressed, scared. I was angry, I was shocked and I feared for my family and my daughter," the woman said as her voice broke.
When the girl testified Monday and Tuesday, she admitted she had a hard time remembering what happened that day.
She told defence lawyer Lisa Jean Helps that she knows she would have told police the truth in her March 2010 statement but in watching that videotaped statement replayed in court this week, it was difficult to know if there were any mistakes.
Her teacher, Lisa White, also took the stand Tuesday, testifying she had taken Oct. 13, 2009 off as an extended Thanksgiving long weekend. When she returned on Oct. 14, she was shocked to find the classroom in disarray, with activity supplies left on the tables, items strewn all over the floor and papers scattered on her desk.
"I was aghast," White said, who also testified that the majority of her class hadn't completed the work set out in her lesson plan for the day.
Plehanov is facing five sexual interference and five sexual assault charges in relation to alleged incidents that took place in three elementary schools dating back to 2008. He also faces one charge of criminal harassment in connection with a June 2010 incident.
The trial continues.
