Former Nanaimo teacher awaits sentence for possessing over 2,400 child sex abuse images

Uploaded by user ‘Family Humpin’, 24 media files were discovered, which included videos of girls between the ages of six and 12 being sexually abused by adult men.

The username was connected to Gilkes and his downtown Nanaimo address.

Crown counsel Jordan Hauschildt said Nanaimo RCMP initiated an investigation into Gilkes in January 2023, while he was employed as a substitute teacher with Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools (SD68), teaching both secondary and elementary classes.

A search warrant was executed on Gilkes’ Nanaimo home in June, where police found over 2,400 media files which fit the description of child sexual abuse material on numerous devices.

Hauschildt said Gilkes admitted to police he had the “child sexual abuse materials,” and was arrested.

“He told police that he knew that being in possession of those materials was wrong…he acknowledged that he had engaged in trading child sexual abuse materials with other users of the Kik messenger service.”

The files, which included 900 videos, contained graphic and disturbing images of boys and girls between the approximate ages of three and 16 being sexually abused in various ways by older men.

Gilkes was indicted when charges were sworn in a Nanaimo court in May 2024, and an arrest warrant was issued.

Gilkes appeared voluntarily at a police station in Ontario the following September, where he was living with his family, with a judge’s permission, while the investigation was ongoing.

He was released with conditions applied at the time, limiting his movement and his internet usage.

History
Court heard how Gilkes was born and raised in Ontario, and diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy when he was 18 months old.

After obtaining his university teaching degree, he began working with the York Region District School Board.

In 2022, Gilkes took a sabbatical from his teaching position and moved to Nanaimo to pursue a romantic relationship with a woman.

Court heard he began working as a substitute teacher at SD68, filling in for classes from kindergarten to grade twelve.

It was at this time Gilkes began consuming more online pornography to deal with stress linked to his relationship.

Following his arrest in June 2023, Gilkes returned to Ontario and resumed his teaching role with the York Region District School Board.

A staff list for Newmarket High School showed Gilkes was employed at his hometown high school during the first semester of the 2023/24 school year.

“He returned to teaching, by in his words, because he did not tell anyone about the British Columbia arrest. He was ultimately forced to resign when authorities in Ontario became aware of his British Columbia charges,” Hauschildt said.

Court heard Gilkes decided to attempt to take his life once his offences became known there.

He drank anti-freeze and stood on railroad tracks, and was hospitalized for psychiatric care as a result, and was prescribed anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medication.

His B.C. teaching license was suspended in June 2024, while his Ontario teaching license was suspended a month later.

Defence attorney Janine Sicotte said delays in the investigation before charges were formally approved were related to his getting another teaching position in Ontario, as the information hadn’t been made public yet, and Gilkes didn’t disclose it.

She said while she doesn’t downplay the seriousness of his offence, there is “no evidence to suggest that Mr. Gilkes has had any issues with children in person.”

“I note that during all of that time, there was about a six-month period between December, when police were alerted to the offending, and Mr. Gilkes arrested in June, there was no police intervention in being a teacher and actively teaching in Nanaimo…there’s no evidence to suggest he is a danger to children, save for the nature of this offence.”

While the court-ordered psychological report deemed Gilkes as a “low-risk to criminally reoffend”, another test administered, known as the Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool, deemed him an “average risk to reoffend.”

Gilkes told the author of the psychological report he felt his cerebral palsy diagnosis made him a “burden” to his family throughout his life.

He said it was the reason he never told anyone when he was molested by an older male family member when he was seven, revealing those details only last year.

Gilkes denied having any sexual urges in person for minors.

He briefly addressed the court during the sentencing arguments, saying he “feels terrible for what I’ve done” and he’ll do “anything I can to rehabilitate.”

Letters of support were provided by his mother and sister, who were present in court during sentencing, and Sicotte said he has taken full responsibility for his actions since his arrest.

Gilkes has no prior criminal record.

Judge Colleen Spier reserved her sentencing decision for a later date.

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by Jordan Davidson

Former Nanaimo teacher awaits sentence for possessing over 2,400 child sex abuse images

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