Former private-school teacher jailed nine months for luring after sending messages declaring love for teen

A former Catholic school teacher who sent inappropriate romantic messages to a teenage student, professing his love for her, has been sentenced to nine months in jail.

Ketan Badiani, 59, previously pleaded guilty to one count of child luring connected to more than 150 messages he sent the girl between October 2024 and March 2025 while a teacher at St. Maurice School.

Provincial court Judge Tim Killeen said he was satisfied Badiani had no sexual intent in sending the messages, noting a forensic psychologist’s report that described him as a lonely, isolated man with few friends and a limited history of social interaction.

“He appears to have genuinely cared for (the student) and somehow thought she would reciprocate his feelings,” Killeen said.

“What is clear is he knew she was his student,” he said. “He had no basis to communicate with her in this way. A parent sending their child off to school should be secure knowing the child will not receive proclamations of love from a teacher.”

Badiani communicated with the girl over the school’s Microsoft Teams account, messaging her on school days, weekends and holidays.

The messages to the girl initially focused on school matters, but quickly became personal, with Badiani telling her she was beautiful, that he loved her, that she “looked good in blue” and that he missed her.

In one message, he told the girl to change her answers on a test so she could get a better mark; in others he shared information about other students and the marks they were receiving. In another he told her he bought her chocolates for Valentine’s Day.

“A teacher complimenting a student on her work, her ability or her dedication is part of teaching,” Killeen said. “A teacher complimenting a student on her appearance or clothing is completely different.

“Worse, (Badiani) then began to express love toward the student, either by words or emojis,” Killeen said. “An adult telling a young child they love them is natural. A teacher telling a student that he loves her is an expression of something quite different.”

Badiani continued to message the girl, despite her telling him to stop. The girl eventually reported Badiani to school authorities and he was placed on administrative leave March 17, 2025.

Badiani was in a position of authority over the girl, which may have compelled her to “respond in a similar fashion,” Killeen said.

“He was the teacher, she was the child,” he said. “The nature of the relationship would easily lead to confusion.… What response could she make? It appears that she realized that it had to stop, but she can hardly be faulted for taking some time to come to that realization.”

Badiani disclosed in the forensic report he had been warned about concerning communications with another student at a school where he was previously employed and was subsequently removed from the school.

Killeen said he accepted Badiani’s guilty plea as a true sign of remorse. Had Badiani taken the case to trial, a conviction for luring was not inevitable, Killeen said, noting his messages to the girl were not explicitly sexual, did not suggest they meet outside of school, and did not encourage her to share feelings that would allow him to manipulate her.

“Instead, he entered a guilty plea,” Killeen said. “That spared the student the ordeal of testifying. In a sense, that is consistent with his expression of how he felt about her.”

Killeen sentenced Badiani to an additional three years supervised probation and ordered that he have no contact with the victim or hold a position of trust over anyone 16 years of age or younger.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca