Former Whitehorse educational assistant found not guilty of sex abuse charges

A former educational assistant at Hidden Valley Elementary School has been found not guilty of sexual abuse charges involving a student. 

William Auclair-Bellemare stood trial this summer on one count each of invitation to sexual touching, sexual assault and forcible confinement. 

In a verdict delivered in a Whitehorse courtroom Friday morning, territorial court judge Peter Chisholm said there was no evidence to support the sexual assault charge, and he was left with reasonable doubt about Auclair-Bellemare's guilt on the remaining charges. 

While police laid the charges against Auclair-Bellemare in 2021, the allegations dated back between 2015 and 2017 when he was still employed at Hidden Valley. 

The complainant, who's still a child, was a student in one of the classrooms Auclair-Bellemare worked in; their identity is covered by a publication ban. 

Auclair-Bellemare's three-day trial in June largely hinged on the child's testimony, who alleged that Auclair-Bellemare had taken them from class to a small room and told them to take off their pants and underwear. Auclair-Bellemare then drew a sketch, the child testified, and told them he was checking to make sure they were healthy and to not tell anyone about what happened. 

The child did not tell their mother about the allegations until 2021, when their mother talked to them after reading a CBC News article that mentioned an educational assistant at Hidden Valley had pleaded guilty to sexual interference against another student. 

The mother, the child's sibling and a teacher also took the witness stand during the trial.

Auclair-Bellemare did not testify. 

In an unusual move, Crown attorney Caroline Lirette asked Chisholm in her closing submissions to acquit Auclair-Bellemare on the sexual assault charge, acknowledging that the Crown hadn't put forward evidence of physical contact occurring between the child and Auclair-Bellemare.

Child's testimony was sincere, judge says

Chisholm, in his decision, granted Lirette's request and declared Auclair-Bellemare not guilty of the charge. 

Turning to the other two counts, Chisholm said that the child testified in good faith and was sincere on the witness stand. However, he also said there were weaknesses in the testimony, with the child unable to remember certain details.

Among the questions the child couldn't answer, Chisholm noted, was whether Auclair-Bellemare had touched them in the room, if anyone else had been there and if Auclair-Bellemare helped them put their pants back on before they returned to class. As well, the child testified that they had told a friend about what happened, but couldn't remember what they said. 

The sibling's testimony, meanwhile, was largely contradicted by other witnesses, Chisholm said. While the sibling testified that the child previously told them about Auclair-Bellemare, the child said they didn't remember doing that. The sibling also testified that the child was crying when telling their mother about the allegations in 2021, which was denied by both the mother and child.

Chisholm also said he had to treat the mother's testimony with care, particularly with regards to whether she shared details from the article that could have influenced the child's memory. The mother denied doing so; Chisholm acknowledged the conversation with her child after reading the article would have been difficult and emotional. 

All those factors, Chisholm concluded, left him with a reasonable doubt about what happened and he declared Auclair-Bellemare not guilty on the invitation to sexual touching and forcible confinement charges. 

Auclair-Bellemare did not respond to a request for comment after the verdict. 

While the decision Friday marked an end to Auclair-Bellemare's criminal matters — a second child also went to police in 2021, but the Crown stayed the charges in that case earlier this year — he still faces three lawsuits in civil court that also centre on the alleged abuse of Hidden Valley students.

A CBC News article about the first of the lawsuits, filed by the child with whom Auclair-Bellemare pleaded guilty to sexually interfering, triggered an outcry from Hidden Valley parents who had not been informed about the case by the school or territorial education department.

The families of the two other children went to police after that, and the situation also triggered four reviews of how police and the Yukon government handled the situation. 

The lawsuits have yet to be tested at trial.