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Montreal teacher suspended for showing Luka Rocco Magnotta dismember slay video, police say

Luka Rocco Magnotta Personal photo

(CBS/AP) MONTREAL - A Montreal school suspended a teacher for showing high school students a video that police believe shows Canadian porn actor Luka Rocco Magnotta dismembering his Chinese lover Jun Lin, authorities said on Wednesday.

Pictures: Porn actor wanted in gruesome body parts case

The teacher was suspended with pay on June 4, the same day he showed the video. The teacher's name was not released, but  he was reportedly under contract to teach a 10th-grade history and citizenship education class through the end of the year.

Staff at Cavelier-De LaSalle High released a statement calling the teacher's behavior inappropriate and offensive. They said a team of psychologists was available to deal with any problems.

"It's horrifying," said Education Minister Michelle Courchesn. "It's a very, very serious and total lack of judgment. I don't see any educational value in that."

Police suspect Magnotta of killing and dismembering Lin and posting a video online of him stabbing and having sex with the dismembered corpse. Lin's body parts were mailed to the headquarters of two of Canada's main political parties and two Vancouver schools. The case provoked an international manhunt when the suspect fled to Europe. Magnotta was captured in Berlin last week and is facing extradition.

According Montreal police, the video is so disturbing that even seasoned detectives who watched it were troubled.

But some students defended the teacher, saying it was the kids' idea to watch the video. An alleged class vote resulted in a show-of-hands 22 to 3 in favor of watching, and the three who voted against it stayed and watched anyway. The teacher warned the class of its graphic content and fast-forwarded through some of the video.

"He's a very good teacher," said 17-year-old student Maude Aubin-Boivin. "Honestly, his courses are super fun... He's a teacher who knows his job and who knows how to teach."

Aubin-Boivin said the contents were troubling, but insisted she was fine.

"For sure, at the beginning I found it tough," she said. "But I wasn't traumatized or anything. We see so much these days on TV."

Complete coverage of Luka Rocco Magnotta on Crimesider

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