Former Moncton teacher guilty of 17 historic sex crimes, judge rules

WARNING: This article contains details of abuse.

A former Moncton teacher has been found guilty of 17 sex crime charges involving nine victims going back decades.

Paul Maillet, 78, stood trial over several weeks in January on crimes alleged to have occurred between 1967 and 2022.

The charges included gross indecency, indecent assault, sexual touching, sexual assault, communicating with a person under 18 for sexual purposes, and possession of child pornography.

Justice Jean-Paul Ouellette read his decision over nearly two hours Friday morning, finding Maillet guilty of all but one charge: communicating with a person under 18 for a sexual purpose in 2003. 

Maillet had faced 27 charges, but the Crown withdrew several as the trial unfolded.

Taken into custody

The judge ordered Maillet, who had been released on bail during the trial, remanded into custody pending sentencing. He was led out of the courtroom by sheriffs. 

Sentencing has been scheduled for March 19 and 20.

It was the second trial involving Maillet. In September 2023, he was found not guilty of sexual assault and gross indecency.

His trial this year heard testimony from 10 men between the ages of 38 and 69. The court heard Maillet assaulted students between the 1960s and 1990s at Stella Maris, Champlain and Vanier schools in Moncton.

Several said they had never told anyone about the assaults at the time. 

The victims cannot be identified. 

Gained trust of students

Crown prosecutor Martine Cormier said in closing arguments on Jan. 24 that witness testimony showed similarities in the events and that Maillet had a modus operandi. 

Cormier said Maillet gained the trust of boys aged 10 to 14 by giving them tasks in class, offering them gifts and car rides, inviting them to the swimming pool at his apartment and offering them trips.

The court heard Maillet showed pornographic images to some students, touched children in his classroom, photographed naked children and masturbated young boys. He also had oral sex with some of them.

Defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux criticized the RCMP investigation in his closing arguments, saying little was done to verify statements given to police.

"What the Crown didn't do, what the police didn't do, what the investigators didn't do? Trust but verify, trust but verify," Lemieux said in French.

He noted that several people testified that sometimes other children were present in classrooms, a car or Maillet's apartment during the alleged events. He questioned why investigators didn't seek out those potential witnesses to corroborate the allegations.

Lemieux declined to comment on the decision when leaving the courthouse Friday.

Victims testified that the assaults shattered their lives. 

"I spent my life running away from my life," said one, who later became addicted to drugs. 

"My parents died without knowing that I was abused," another testified.