Benjamin Levin | |
---|---|
Born | Benjamin Ruvin Levin 1952 (age 71–72) West Kildonan, Manitoba, Canada |
Title |
|
Criminal charges |
|
Criminal penalty | 3 years' incarceration [1] |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | |
Thesis | Experience of Managing (1982) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Education |
Institutions |
Benjamin Ruvin Levin (born 1952) [2] is a Canadian former civil servant,educational scholar,and convicted sex offender. He was a Canada Research Chair in Education Leadership and Policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE),University of Toronto. He served for three years in the Ontario Liberal provincial government of Dalton McGuinty,as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Education,after having held a similar post in Manitoba. [3] He also served as an advisor to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. [4]
On March 3,2015,Levin pleaded guilty to three charges relating to making and distributing child pornography. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. [5] He only spent three months of his sentence in jail before being paroled. [5]
Levin was born in 1952 into a Jewish family in West Kildonan,a suburb of Winnipeg,Manitoba. [6] He was the second of four brothers.
Levin holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Manitoba,an Masters of Education from Harvard University [7] as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa.
As a civil servant,he first served for the Province of Manitoba as Deputy Minister of Advanced Education and as Deputy Minister of Education,Training and Youth from 1999 through 2002. [8] He then served as the Deputy Minister of Education for the Province of Ontario for three years from 2004 to 2007 and again from 2008 to 2009 [8] under a Liberal government.
As an academic,Levin has published eight books,including "Making a Difference in Urban Schools" (with Jane Gaskell,University of Toronto Press),"More High School Graduates" (Corwin Press) and "Breaking Barriers" [9] (with Avis Glaze and Ruth Mattingley,Pearson Canada) and more than 200 other articles on education,conducted many research studies,and has spoken and consulted on education issues around the world,including serving on the governing council of the National College for School Leadership in England. [10]
Levin was academic director for Ontario's new Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research,funded by the Ministry of Education to improve the sharing of research findings and their use in policy and practice. The government of Ontario suspended him upon his arrest on child-pornography charges in July 2013. [11]
Levin headed the "Research Supporting Practice in Education" (RSPE), [12] a program of research and related activities aimed at learning more about building strong linkages between research,policy and practice,referred to as Knowledge Mobilization (KM). RSPE is headquartered at OISE/University of Toronto and supported with core funds from the Canada Research Chairs program. Levin was the principal investigator working with academic colleagues and graduate students.
On July 8,2013,Levin was arrested by the Toronto Police Service sex-crimes unit and charged with seven counts of child exploitation,including charges of possessing and accessing child pornography. He had been a suspect of the police service since mid-2012. [13] He was released on $100,000 bail. [14]
According to a letter sent by Levin to his former colleagues he would "be pleading guilty on March 3,2015 to three of the seven charges,namely one count of possession of child pornography,one count of making written child pornography,and one count of counselling a sexual assault." [15] As well,the judge noted that though Levin did not plead guilty to this offence,he unquestionably also distributed child pornography,including sending various images to the undercover officers who were investigating him. On May 29,2015,he was sentenced to three years in prison. He only spent three months of his sentence in jail before being paroled. [5]
Levin was listed in the "Who's Who of Canada" [16] and was ranked the fifth-most influential knowledge mobilization (KM) leader in Canada. [17] In 2003,Levin was awarded the Canadian Education Association's Whitworth Award for contributions to education research. [18] [19] The following year he received the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba's Medal for Service to Public Administration [20] In 2010,he was named Outstanding Educator of the Year,by Phi Delta Kappa's Toronto chapter [21] and in 2012 he was awarded one of four Max Bell Foundation National Awards in Canada for Innovation Ideas. [22]
Julian Fantino,,is a Canadian retired police official and former politician. He was the Conservative Party of Canada Member of the Parliament of Canada for the riding of Vaughan following a November 29,2010 by-election,until his defeat in 2015. On January 4,2011,Fantino was named Minister of State for Seniors;on May 18,2011,he became Associate Minister of National Defence;on July 4,2012,he was named Minister for International Cooperation. Fantino served as the Minister of Veterans Affairs from 2013 until 2015,when he was demoted to his earlier post of Associate Minister of National Defence following sustained criticism of his performance at Veterans Affairs. He was defeated by Liberal candidate Francesco Sorbara in the 2015 election.
Joy Ann Smith is a Canadian politician. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba between 1999 and 2003,and was in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015.
Clayton Charles Ruby was a Canadian lawyer and activist,specializing in constitutional and criminal law and civil rights.
Thomas Eugene Flanagan is an American-born Canadian author,conservative political activist,and former political science professor at the University of Calgary. He also served as an advisor to Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper until 2004.
Kevin Alfred Strom is an American white nationalist and neo-Nazi from Virginia who founded the National Vanguard. In 2008,Strom pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.
Neil M. Cohen is an American Democratic Party politician,who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1994 to 2008 where he represented the 20th Legislative District. He had also served in the Assembly from the 21st District from 1990 to 1992.
Bernard Vincent Finnigan is an Australian former politician who served as a member of the South Australian Legislative Council from 2006 until 2015. He was appointed in May 2006 as a member of the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party to the Legislative Council in a casual vacancy triggered by the death of Terry Roberts. Elected at the 2010 election,Finnigan briefly served in the Rann government cabinet from February until April in 2011,when Labor suspended him from the party,sitting thereafter as an independent backbencher until his 2015 parliamentary resignation. He was the Acting Police Minister at the time of his arrest.
Child erotica is non-pornographic material relating to children that is used by any individuals for sexual purposes. It is a broader term than child pornography,incorporating material that may cause sexual arousal such as nonsexual images,books or magazines on children or pedophilia,toys,diaries,or clothes. Law enforcement investigators have found that child erotica is often collected by pedophiles and child sexual abuse offenders. It may be collected as a form of compulsive behavior and as a substitute for illegal underage pornography and is often a form of evidence for criminal behavior.
Anser Farooq is a Canadian defence attorney based in Mississauga,Ontario,who gained notability defending suspects during the 2006 Ontario terrorism plot.
John David Burnes is an Olympic athlete from Canada,who competed in archery. He participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics,both individually and with the Canadian Men's Team.
Keith Farnham was a Democratic former member of the Illinois House of Representatives who resigned from office and pleaded guilty of distributing child pornography in 2014.
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Canada are well documented dating back to the 1960s. The preponderance of criminal cases with Canadian Catholic dioceses named as defendants that have surfaced since the 1980s strongly indicate that these cases were far more widespread than previously believed. While recent media reports have centred on Newfoundland dioceses,there have been reported cases—tested in court with criminal convictions—in almost all Canadian provinces. Sexual assault is the act of an individual touching another individual sexually and/or committing sexual activities forcefully and/or without the other person's consent. The phrase Catholic sexual abuse cases refers to acts of sexual abuse,typically child sexual abuse,by members of authority in the Catholic church,such as priests. Such cases have been occurring sporadically since the 11th century in Catholic churches around the world. This article summarizes some of the most notable Catholic sexual abuse cases in Canadian provinces.
Mark Wayne Salling was an American actor and musician known for his role as Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the television series Glee.
Raymond John Lahey was a Canadian bishop of the Catholic Church. He was Bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish,Nova Scotia from 2003 to 2009. Lahey was charged in 2009 with the importation of child pornography. He was suspended from the exercise of his priestly and sacramental functions,resigned as bishop in 2009,and was laicized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
Andrew Robert Muirhead is an Australian former radio and television presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He was the presenter of ABC Radio Hobart's breakfast program in Tasmania and also the presenter of the Collectors television program from 2005 to 2010. In 2012,he pleaded guilty to accessing child pornography and served four months of a five-month jail sentence.
Lisa A. Biron is a disbarred attorney from Manchester,New Hampshire,and a convicted child molester and child pornographer. In November 2012,she was indicted on federal charges related to the sexual exploitation of her 14-year-old daughter,including taking her to Canada to have sex with a man there. She was convicted on all charges in a January 2013 trial,and was sentenced that May to 40 years in prison.
Rehtaeh Anne Parsons,was a 17-year-old Cole Harbour District High School student who attempted suicide by hanging at her home in Dartmouth,Nova Scotia,Canada,on April 4,2013,leading to a coma and the decision to switch her life support machine off on April 7,2013. Her death has been attributed to online distribution of photos of an alleged gang rape that occurred 17 months prior to her suicide,in November 2011. On a Facebook page set up in tribute to her daughter,Parsons' mother blamed the four boys who allegedly raped and released images of her,the subsequent constant "bullying and messaging and harassment",and the failure of the Canadian justice system,for her daughter's decision to die by suicide.
Freedom Hosting was a Tor specialist web hosting service that was established in 2008. At its height in August 2013,it was the largest Tor web host.
Project Spade,an international police investigation into child pornography,began in October 2010 in Toronto,Canada. The investigation started when Toronto Police Service officers made on-line contact with a man who was alleged to have been sharing pornographic videos via the Internet and by mail. The investigation eventually covered over 50 countries. 348 people were arrested internationally,and 386 children were said to have been rescued. The primary producers were Igor Rusanov and Andrey Ivanov in Crimea,Ukraine,Markus Roth in Romania,and Paul Kruger in Germany.
Jason Edward Wayne Dickens,better known as Byrd Dickens,is a Canadian former actor,cameraman,and convicted sex offender,who was known for his role as Scott Smith,an abusive boyfriend,on Degrassi High from the late 1980s to early 1990s. Dickens also did minor acting roles and camera and electrical work for various films and television productions. In 2016,Dickens was arrested and charged after committing acts of filming child pornography,possessing child pornography,child molestation,and acts of bestiality with three other women.