Trial underway for former educational assistant accused of abusing student at Whitehorse school

Warning: This story contains details some people may find distressing.

The trial for a now-former educational assistant accused of sexually abusing a student at Whitehorse's Hidden Valley Elementary School began Monday with the alleged victim — still a child — taking the witness stand. 

The accused, William Auclair-Bellemare, worked at the school until 2019 when he was arrested on sexual abuse charges involving another student. He later pleaded guilty to one count of sexual interference in that case.

In court this week, he's facing one count each of invitation to sexual touching, sexual assault, and forcible confinement against a student, alleged to have happened between 2015 and 2017.

He's pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

The identity of the child, who appeared in court via video conference, is covered by a publication ban.

"I have a story of something that happened to me," the child told the court. 

Responding to questions from Crown attorney Caroline Lirette, the child testified that Auclair-Bellemare had brought them from a classroom to an empty change room at the school one day. The child testified that they didn't really know Auclair-Bellemare before that but had seen him supervising recesses. 

The child testified that Auclair-Bellemare then instructed them to remove their pants and underwear and said "something about doctor stuff or something like that, like making sure I was healthy."

The child testified that Auclair-Bellemare also drew a sketch, which the child couldn't clearly remember but seemed more like a general outline of a person. 

"I was little so I didn't really understand it… I remember feeling confused," the child said.

The child also said they didn't feel like they could leave the change room, and that Auclair-Bellemare allegedly said not to tell anyone about what happened. 

In cross-examination, defence lawyer Kim Arial questioned the child's recollection of events. The child agreed that there were gaps in their memory, like how they got from the classroom to the change room, and that some memories seemed like they could have been from a dream. 

The child also agreed that they didn't have a strong recollection of what allegedly happened until their mother told them about a news article about someone at the school who "told a kid to take their clothes off," at which point the child told her about what they'd experienced. 

While the child said they'd only spoken to a friend about the alleged incident before telling their mother, the child's sibling, testifying separately, told the court the child had also told them about it. The sibling also testified they were present when their mother talked about the article and when the child said their recollection "might have been a dream," the sibling had said it wasn't because the child had previously talked about it to them. 

The sibling couldn't recall how much time passed between first hearing about what allegedly happened and when their mother finding out.

The trial, being presided over by territorial court judge Peter Chisholm, is scheduled to run until Wednesday with the Crown expected to call two more witnesses. 

Details about the 2019 case that led to Auclair-Bellemare's removal from the school were not widely known or disclosed to the Hidden Valley school community until the victim and his parent filed one of three civil lawsuits Auclair-Bellemare is also now facing.

New alleged victims came forward to police after that lawsuit was filed, leading to new charges being laid in two cases including the one currently before the court. The second set of charges was stayed earlier this year.

Auclair-Bellemare is named as a defendant along with the Yukon government and, in one case, the Yukon RCMP, in the three civil lawsuits.