Former teacher faces 10 sex charges in Iqaluit trial

Aformer Nunavut teacher and convicted sex offender sexually abused boys ina school shower and invited them to his house to watch pornographic movies, an Iqaluit court heard in testimony Monday.

Ed Horne, whotaught in theNunavut communities of Cape Dorset, Sanikiluaq, Kimmirut and Iqaluit in the 1970s and '80s, returned to the Nunavut capital Monday for the one-week trial, held by judge alone. He has been convicted twice before on similar charges.

Horne, 64,was originally charged with 15 sex-related crimes stemming from complaints from former students.But the Crown said Mondayit willproceed with only 10 of those charges, since one complainant has chosen not to testify at the trial and a second could notbe located.

The charges— which include several counts of buggery, indecent assault andgross indecent assault— date back to a period between 1971 and 1985, when Horne was a schoolteacher inthe eastern Arctic communities.

A court-ordered ban prohibits the publication or broadcasting of details that could identify the victims.Crown attorney Judy Chan is expected to call four witnesses.

Witnesses allege shower sex acts, women's clothing

On Monday morning, the court heard from one witness who testified he was about 10 years old when Horne taught him in Grade 4.

The distraught witnessallegedthat the accused would sexually abuse him and his classmates in the school shower, fondling him and forcing him to perform oral sex and attempt anal intercourse.

The witness said there was also abuse at the home of the former teacher, who wouldinvite him and his classmates over to watch pornographic movies.

While the movies ran, the witness said, the teacherwould bathe with each boy individually and abuse them in the bathtub.

That afternoon, a second witness testifed that Horne would dress him and his classmates in women's clothing — including lingerie and even a wedding dress — while at school. Horne would take their pictures while they're dressed inthe femininegarb, the witness said.

Defence suggests compensation as motivation

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Tom Boyd asked both witnesses why they waited years before filing complaints with police. He suggested they may have waited until they learned they could be eligible for compensation.

Both witnesses Monday flatly denied Boyd's suggestion, with one saying he did not complain because he was trying to maintain his dignity and he had denied the abuse for years.

In 2000, Horne was convicted on 20 similar charges and served two-thirds of a five-year sentence. He was living in a halfway house in Toronto when he was arrested in January 2005 on the latest charges.

In 1987, Horne pleaded guilty to eight similar charges involving 24 victims. At the time, he was sentenced to six years in jail.

The governments of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut reached a $21-million out-of-court settlement with more than 82 of Horne's victims in 2002.

Two years later, a second group of 73 of Horne's former students filed another lawsuit, claiming that the governments failed to protect them from Horne.