B.C. Teacher Banned for Seven More Years After Grindr Sting Involving Person Posing as 14-Year-Old
Sarah Desjardins
10/1/20262 min read
A former Vancouver Island high school teacher has been barred from teaching for another seven years after arranging to meet a person he believed was a 14-year-old boy through the dating app Grindr.
The details involving Carlos Deni Pavan are contained in a discipline decision published Tuesday by the B.C. Teacher Regulation Branch.
Pavan was working in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District when the incident occurred in March 2023.
The person he was communicating with was not a teenager, but an adult posing as one while carrying out a sting targeting people he suspected of predatory behaviour.
Conversation Continued After Age Was Disclosed
According to the discipline decision, Pavan was using the Grindr username “Big Bear” when he initiated a conversation on March 14, 2023, with a profile that did not list an age.
Early in the exchange, however, the other user said he was 14.
The decision includes a lengthy transcript of a conversation that continued for nearly three hours.
At one point, Pavan asked for photos. The person posing as the youth said he would not send anything sexual.
Pavan replied: “Lol...I wasn't asking. I don't want to go to jail.”
In another exchange, Pavan asked whether the youth liked people his own age. When the user responded that he sometimes preferred older men, Pavan replied by questioning whether he kept that secret from family and friends.
The discipline decision also records Pavan expressing concern about whether the person was genuine.
He said sending a photograph was “too risky,” adding that there were “vigilantes and cops” and that he did not know whether the person was real.
Decision Says Teacher Suggested Meeting
Around 12:30 a.m., according to the decision, Pavan said he planned to go for a walk and suggested the other user do the same somewhere they “might cross paths.”
The meeting did not happen that night after the person posing as the teenager expressed concerns about meeting a stranger.
The pair continued communicating through the app over the following days.
On March 18, Pavan again suggested meeting in person.
This time, the person agreed, and Pavan arranged to pick him up at a Tim Hortons.
Pavan arrived shortly after 10 p.m.
“The Person approached Pavan while Pavan was sitting in his car. Once confronted, Pavan drove away while the Person filmed him,” the discipline decision states.
Video and Chats Posted Online
The adult who had posed as the teenager later uploaded the video and copies of the Grindr conversations to Facebook.
The post identified Pavan as a teacher.
The Commissioner for Teacher Regulation opened an investigation on March 21, 2023.
Pavan’s teaching certificate was suspended the following month.
The Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District later terminated his employment on June 13, 2023.
Certificate Suspended for Another Seven Years
The disciplinary ruling published Tuesday extends Pavan’s certificate suspension by an additional seven years.
The Teacher Regulation Branch concluded that his conduct represented a failure to maintain appropriate professional boundaries.
It also found that his actions “undermined the public’s confidence in the education system.”
The decision does not state whether police investigated the incident or whether any criminal charges were considered or laid.
At the time of the report, Nanaimo RCMP had been asked for comment.
The disciplinary outcome means Pavan will remain prohibited from teaching in British Columbia for the duration of the extended suspension.
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