Jeffrey Allan Jennens cried as the decision was read by Judge Cathie Heinrichs that the former teacher accused of telecommunicating to lure a child under 18 was not guilty.
Jennens appeared in B.C. Provincial Court in Kelowna on May 5, with rosary beads in hand to learn his fate nearly two years after his arrest.
The former Rutland Senior Secondary teacher was arrested in May 2023, after an investigation by the Kelowna Sex Crimes Unit regarding messages with a former student sent via Instagram on May 12, 2023.
The messages were read in court and included sexual content, but Judge Heinrichs told the court Crown did not prove Jennens' intentions behind the messages were a means to facilitate an offence beyond a reasonable doubt.
BREAKING: Former Kelowna high school teacher Jeffrey Jennens was acquitted in B.C. Provincial Court today on charges of telecommunicating to lure a child under 18. Judge Heinrich told the court Crown failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. @KelownaCapNews
— Brittany Webster (@thebrittwebster) May 5, 2025
The messages sent from Jennens on May 12, 2023, include him stating he was looking at the student's photo on their story again and it "turned me on a lot," followed by messages of wanting to see more of A.P.'s body, such as he liked seeing A.P. in a mini skirt, liked it when A.P. touched his knee, and liked it when A.P. talked about his chicken lamp, which was discussed in court with the student previously commenting on the lamp in Jennens' classroom by saying, "Can I turn on your c**k?"
Jennens' defence team argued during the trial that the accused was trying to teach the student a lesson about posting sexualized photos online. Jennens had been drinking at the time he sent the messages, and when the student disengaged from the conversation, the defence argued Jennens panicked and abandoned his original plan.
"There is some sense to his explanation, even if it does not entirely line up," the judge told the court.
Crown had previously argued that Jennens' intent to facilitate a future offence could be inferred from a message following Jennens' sexual comments that these were things he had been thinking but not saying and telling the student he would not act on anything.
"However, they can also be explained by Mr. Jennens' testimony about his state of impairment and the panic that set in for him realizing that his approach was backwards," Heinrichs said, adding that other messages could be taken as confirmation that Jennens had no sexual intentions when communicating with the student.
Jennens was acquitted on the grounds that Judge Heinrichs was left with a reasonable doubt on Jennens' overall intentions.
Jennens no longer has a teaching license.
