Paralegal Licensing Appeal Dismissed
An appeal of the Ontario Law Society that took issue with a finding of present good character in a paralegal licensing matter has been dismissed by the Law Society Tribunal Appeal Division
The misconduct that had led to a guilty plea to one count of child luring
During the weekend of June 15-17, 2018, Ms. Colangelo made some very bad choices which ultimately led to her arrest and loss of her teaching licence. She engaged in sexually explicit talk and sent sexually explicit photos and videos to one 16-year-old and two 17‑year-old boys from the high school at which she taught. They had all been students of hers in the past but were not at the time of the encounters.
On June 15, Ms. Colangelo was home drinking. Her kids were sleeping, and her husband was at work. She was on Tinder, an adult dating site. She “swiped right” on the profile of victim #1, whom she hadn’t initially recognized as a student. They exchanged messages. She gave him her Snapchat code. He contacted her. She also exchanged messages with another student that night.
On June 16, again after heavily drinking, she sent photos and videos of herself which were highly sexual to both victims. These were not taken to share with these boys; they were already on her phone. The boys shared those photos and videos with other students in the school. On June 17, a third victim began exchanging messages with her. She sent two sexual photos and suggested they should engage in sexual activity. He felt uncomfortable and ended the communication.
Ms. Colangelo told the panel that she did not immediately regret the encounters or recognize they were wrong. She enjoyed the attention and was energized from it. She continued to feel good about these encounters and the acceptance she felt as a result. She testified that on June 19, everything came crashing down when she was called to the principal’s office and had to leave the school. She testified that she was mortified and couldn’t believe what was happening. She was scared and thought about her husband and the impact on her kids. She sought out a counsellor to help her as she knew what she had done was wrong.
On June 21, 2018, Ms. Colangelo was arrested and charged with two counts of child luring and one count of making sexually explicit material available to a child. She took ownership right away. Her husband was shocked and disgusted. He wasn’t supportive and she could see why. They protected the kids and carried on with their normal activities as best they could. She could not work.
On appeal
There was sufficient evidence at the hearing to support the hearing panel’s finding that Ms. Colangelo is presently of good character and to grant her licensing application. The Law Society has not identified any error in principle in the hearing panel’s analysis nor identified any palpable and overriding error in its findings. The parties were not denied procedural fairness. The appeal is dismissed.
(Mike Frisch)
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