A lawsuit stemming from a months-long sexual relationship between a now-retired teacher and one of his students in the 1980s is no longer before the court.
A consent order dismissing the action, brought by Karen Holmes against Kim Koehn and School District 57, was filed earlier this month.
Reasons why the step was taken were not provided in the filing and Holmes' lawyer did not respond to a request for comment, but usually consent orders are filed when an out-of-court settlement between the parties has been reached. The order was signed by the plaintiff and both defendants.
In March 2021, Koehn was sentenced to three years probation, and on that day he was served with a notice of civil claim in which Holmes was seeking a range of damages from both Koehn and School District 57.
Holmes waived her right to a ban on publication of information that would identify her.
She was represented by Aaron Lealess, the same lawyer who represented the sexual abuse victims of Wendell Diakiw, who taught at Austin Road Elementary School in the 1970s and 1980s. Among them was Michael Bruneau, who secured an apology and $1.1 million in damages from School District 57.
Starting in roughly October 1984 and lasting until about June 1985, a then-33-year-old Koehn and a then 16-year-old Karen Ann Holmes maintained a "consensual" relationship, according to an agreed statement of facts read into the court record during the criminal proceeding.
At the time, Holmes was the manager of the senior boys basketball team Koehn was coaching at Kelly Road Secondary School and had developed a crush on Koehn and began flirting with him, the court was told.
Instead of rejecting her advances, Koehn accepted her offers of hugs and kisses and took Holmes out to dinner as the team travelled to towns around the Central Interior and Okanagan. By January, it had escalated into a sexual relationship that lasted until the end of the season.
Upon learning he could face criminal charges if found out, Koehn urged the girl to keep their relationship quiet and, in the years since, Holmes had only talked about it with family and close friends.
But also in the years since, Holmes has led a troubled life filled with alcohol abuse, depression, insecurity and anxiety, difficulty at work and and ongoing distrust and anger towards men. Both Koehn and Holmes continued to live in Prince George and, whenever they crossed paths, she would become physically ill.
Holmes, who has since moved away from Prince George and took in the March 2021 sentencing hearing by phone, eventually entered treatment - a step that cost her tens of thousand of dollars in fees and foregone income - and narrowed the cause of her troubles down to Koehn.
In May 2017, she went to the RCMP with her allegations.
Although the relationship was described as "consensual" in an agreed statement of facts, Koehn's actions were found to have met the standard for a charge of gross indecency, a charge that has since been replaced in the Criminal Code with sexual invitation and sexual assault.
Koehn had violated a "position of trust," the court was told and, in addressing the court prior to sentencing, he admitted as much, saying he let down his colleagues, friends and family.
Terms of his probation included house arrest for the first year.
