An Alberta man who had an affair with a teacher 10 years ago, when he was a teenager, cannot have his identity published despite his desire to go public, according to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling Thursday.

In 2000, Jocelyn Jaster, then age 28, was acquitted of sexual exploitation because the trial jury did not believe the elementary teacher had power over the 17-year-old, a Grade 11 student in the same school.

The judge issued a ban on the student's identity, as is the norm in such cases, even though he never asked for it.

'For me to tell my story with an assumed name or a shadowed-out face, it's not me.'—Alberta man who wants publication ban lifted

Now 27, the man, who is being featured in a CBC TV documentary, wants to reveal his name and face as part of sharing his entire story. Lifting the ban would give him closure, he said Thursday.
 
But a three-judge panel of the Supreme Court on Thursday denied an application to appeal the original trial judge's publication ban. As is custom, the panel did not release reasons for the ruling.

"This not only prevents the complainant from self-identifying — so it prevents the speaker from speaking — but prevents our audience from hearing every part of the story," said lawyer Fred Kozak, who fought the case for the CBC.

"Obviously very disappointed, kind of saddened by the matter," the man said of the top court's decision. "I was starting to have faith with the legal system. I don't understand why the decision was not overturned and I'm going to have to look into it a little bit further."

The events of 10 years ago remain fresh in his memory, he said. He said he remembers having sex with his teacher for three months, her pregnancy, apparent miscarriage, and reaction in Dewberry, Alta., a village about 250 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

"I remember I didn't leave the house for about nine months. I had bedsores. Just a small community, you felt that you were under a magnifying glass."

"I tried to deal with it for years," he said this week. "For me to tell my story with an assumed name or a shadowed-out face, it's not me."

The CBC documentary will air on The Fifth Estate at the end of the month, but the man's face and identity will not be revealed.