Former Inuvik educator David Button guilty of 1970s sex assault

Former Inuvik educator David Button was found guilty Thursday of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy in the 1970s.

In a Yellowknife court, Button was convicted of one count of indecent assault on a male.

The victim, now 51, testified Button sexually assaulted him in a car during a driving lesson in 1978. At the time, Button was a guidance counsellor at Samuel Hearne Secondary School​.

Button was acquitted of a second charge of indecent assault. On that charge, Justice Karan Shaner ​said there were too many inconsistencies in the way the complainant described the incident​.

A sentencing hearing for Button is scheduled for April 22.

His lawyer asked for him to be released from custody until his sentencing, in order to get his affairs in order. Button is in his 70s and lives in Salmon Arm, B.C.

The Crown argued Button is now a convicted pedophile and should be taken into custody immediately.

The judge agreed and Button is now in custody at the North Slave Correctional Facility in Yellowknife.