A student teacher charged with sex offences last year has been ordered to stand trial.
Michael Edward Herrera had just finished his teaching practicum – a month of unpaid work experience – in the Surrey School District when he was arrested and charged with three sex-related offences in August 2010.
Surrey RCMP said they had received a complaint a few months earlier from a female student at a Surrey high school who said a student teacher had engaged in an "inappropriate relationship" with her.
Herrera was charged with one count of sexual assault, one count of inviting sexual touching by a person under 16 years old, and one count of sexual interference with a person under 16.
He was ordered to stand trial in Surrey Provincial Court on Aug. 23 of this year. He will be tried in New Westminster Supreme Court and is scheduled to make a brief appearance Oct. 6 to fix a trial date.
Herrera was not an employee of the Surrey School District. Teachers in training perform practicums in schools to gain real classroom experience prior to receiving their teaching certification. They are initially supervised by a certified instructor and later, allowed to work on their own.