Halifax-area teacher acquitted of canoe-kayak club voyeurism charges

A Halifax-area high school teacher has been found not guilty of voyeurism charges related to allegations he took visual recordings of four women in a public washroom at a canoe-kayak club in Dartmouth, N.S.

Provincial court Judge Jill Hartlen acquitted Matthew Douglas Moriarty on Monday, saying although his behaviour and some of the circumstances were "incredibly suspicious," she had concerns with a number of aspects of the case.

The 43-year-old language teacher at Woodlawn High School Dartmouth was put on unpaid leave following his July 20, 2023, arrest. The allegations stem from incidents over three days that month at the Abenaki Aquatic Club.

Witnesses and complainants at trial this summer described the camera of Moriarty's phone pointing into an adjacent bathroom stall at the club, with the iPhone either propped up on the floor or inside the pocket of mesh shorts pushed past the dividing line.

The judge noted "the strange and deliberate placements," given there was a ledge in both stalls where someone could put their phone.

Two people testified Moriarty seemed to be lurking outside the bathroom waiting for them to enter, and he was frequently seen going into the bathroom with a pair of shorts but not changing into them.

But the court also heard from a cellphone expert who examined Moriarty's iPhone after his arrest that no voyeuristic images or apps were found. The analysis determined images had been "double deleted" on July 20, but it's not clear at what time.

"All of these circumstances put together are incredibly suspicious," Hartlen said in her decision. "But in Canada people are not convicted of criminal offences based on strange behaviour and the improbability of coincidences."

She said the prosecution had a circumstantial case, which are "notoriously difficult" to prove. Some of her concerns, she said, include witnesses who testified that they saw the phone under the stall at times when there's no evidence in the camera application to suggest it could have been recording.

The judge said there was "absolutely no trace" of voyeuristic activity on the phone or evidence of voyeuristic apps that had been deleted.

Moriarty had also been charged with sexually assaulting a youth three years ago at a high school, but those charges were dismissed in June after he agreed to a peace bond that forbids him from contacting the complainant.