Sen. Don Meredith broke Senate rules when he had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl, promised her committee work that would get her started on a career, and tried to do business with her parents, the Senate ethics office has ruled.

The relationship began in 2013 when Meredith, 48 at the time and a Pentecostal pastor from the GTA, met the young woman at a church event. She was 16. Over a two-year period it progressed from flirtatious chats over Skype and Viber to sexually explicit live videos during which Meredith would masturbate while the woman took off her clothing, to intimate sexual relations that included fondling. They had sexual intercourse before and after the woman, referred to only as “Ms. M,” turned 18.

Meredith failed to uphold “the highest standards of dignity” of the Canadian Senate, the Office of the Senate Ethics Officer concluded. Meredith, the report states, “drew upon the weight, prestige and notability of his office, as well as his relative position of power as a much older adult to lure or attract Ms. M, a teenager who by virtue of her age was necessarily vulnerable.”

At least one of the encounters took place at Meredith’s government-paid hotel room at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. On occasions when they interacted by video, Meredith was either at the Chateau or in his church office at the GTA Faith Alliance, north of Toronto.

The report relies on interviews with Ms. M, and also on a series of texts that she preserved and that were originally provided to the Star. Based on these, the Senate ethics report determined that Meredith “engaged in a physical sexual relationship with Ms. M that included two encounters before she turned 18, one of which involved intercourse, and two encounters just after she turned 18, both of which involved intercourse.”

At the same time, Meredith was suggesting he could help the woman further her career. He was also speaking with her parents about potential business arrangements and to her older sister about a non-profit initiative.

Read more: Meredith was seen as role model with impressive resume

In one exchange reviewed by ethics officer Lyse Ricard, the woman responds to an offer Meredith made to help her start a career.

“So excited for the opportunities you want to give me,” the young woman told Meredith in an exchange after he suggested he would get her on a committee to “recognize the first black soldier” to receive the Victoria Cross. Nothing came of the offer. Meredith also provided a reference for the woman in 2015 to participate in an internship on Parliament Hill, the report notes.

In her investigation, Ricard interviewed both Ms. M and Meredith. She found serious credibility issues with Meredith and found Ms. M to be truthful in her accounts.

The report also details Meredith’s anger over news of his relationship with the girl reaching a Star reporter and being published.

“This process has come this far to publicly embarrass and shame me,” Meredith said during questioning. In discussing the release to the Star of his text messages, Meredith told the ethics officer, “This is quite surprising to me that a personal communication with someone could be saved, dated, captured, filed. So that leads me to, you know, just speculate as to what the motive was.”

Meredith ultimately broke off the relationship because, according to some of his text messages, “God has spoken with me and am (sic) not happy with me.” Meredith also wrote, “I should be leading you, not making you.”

Meredith, in a recent letter to Ricard after seeing a draft of the report, said he is taking remedial measures to address the ethics breaches. Among them, Meredith said that immediately after the Star story, he placed himself under “the guidance of spiritual advisers” and “engaged in continuous prayers of repentance.” He said he has also sought forgiveness from his wife and children, and that he has completed a course on the “importance of empathy, introspection and self-regulation.”

The report does not state what, if any, action will be taken by the Senate. Meredith, on the day the Star story was published, was ejected from the Conservative caucus but kept his Senate seat. He is facing a separate investigation into allegations of workplace harassment by former staff. A police investigation into Ms. M’s allegations did not result in charges.

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Kevin Donovan can be reached at kdonovan@thestar.ca or 416-312-3503.

Correction - March 15, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Don Meredith's relationship with the teenage girl began in 2014 when he was 50.