'It can ruin my career': Teacher told teen to keep sexual relationship a secret, court hears

A teacher at Western Canada High School initiated a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old he'd taught months earlier, a Calgary judge was told Wednesday. 

Jason Selby, 38, is on trial for sexual assault and sexual exploitation. 

According to the testimony of his alleged victim, on several occasions, Selby told her she had to keep their relationship a secret.

"[He said] 'you cannot tell anyone about us, this is very serious, it can ruin my career.'"

The trial got underway with prosecutor Pam McCluskey's first witness, the alleged victim who is now 23 years old. A publication ban protects the complainant's identity.

CBC News is calling the young woman Amy. 

Selby taught Amy beginning when she was in Grade 10 and all through high school, until the winter semester of her Grade 12 year.

Amy was 17-years-old and had graduated a couple of weeks before when she says she began having sex with her 33-year-old former teacher in July 2018. The initial contact and text messaging began when she was still a student.

The age of consent in Canada is 16-years-old unless one of the parties is in a position of trust or authority over the other. 

A previous court ruling connected to the case shows Selby's lawyer plans to "demonstrate that the relationship between the parties was not exploitative and that there existed no power imbalance in favour of the accused."

Defence lawyer Alain Hepner will get the chance to cross examine Amy next week. 

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) would only say Selby is "unassigned from teaching duties and not actively at work at this time."

 "We cannot comment further as the matter is currently before the courts," said the CBE in a written statement.

Amy says she and Selby continued a sexual relationship on-and-off over the next two years until she began to feel uncomfortable about their dynamic.