A former North Vancouver teacher guilty of sexual offences against nine of his former students and the child of a family friend has failed to have his convictions tossed out of court.
Brian Melicke Moore, 85, was handed his indecent assault verdicts in North Vancouver Provincial Court in April. Most of the assaults were perpetrated on boys in his Grade 6 classes in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Common themes in the allegations were that Moore required the boys to be naked with him on camping and ski trips, aboard his boat or in the SFU pool change rooms. In several instances, Moore either touched the boys’ genitals or put their hands on his, a judge found.
But Moore argued his rights had been violated over the course of the police investigation and court process.
In 1982, one of the victim’s parents alerted the school’s principal, who confronted Moore. Moore quit his job on the spot, but the matter was never reported to police. In 1988, more allegations were brought forward to the school and the RCMP. At the time, Moore and his lawyer were told that the Crown would not be going ahead with charges, “but that if further information came to light in the future, Mr. Moore could face charges with respect to the complaints brought forward.”
That’s what happened 34 years later, in 2022, when another victim came forward to the North Vancouver RCMP. Moore argued living with the threat of charges looming over him for so long was a violation of his Charter rights.
North Vancouver provincial court judge Robert Hamilton, however, rejected that argument.
“If the psychological or physical toll on Mr. Moore has been his knowledge that there is more information that could come to the attention of the police and Crown and the stress related to that knowledge, that has nothing to do with the 34-year span,” Hamilton wrote in his May 28 ruling. “I would characterize the stress and psychological/physical toll that Mr. Moore has been under since 1988 as being self-inflicted but nothing to be laid at the feet of the police or Crown.”
Moore also argued that the police investigation and Crown’s prosecution after so long was an abuse of process. Moore asserted he could no longer remember some of his accusers and, therefore, couldn’t properly answer their allegations in court. Prosecuting him in those circumstances would undermine the integrity of the justice system, he attempted to argue.
Hamilton found the exact opposite was true, adding that Moore was given a fair trial. In the case of three allegations, there wasn’t enough evidence to convict Moore beyond a reasonable doubt, and so he was found not guilty on those charges, Hamilton noted.
“The evidence in this case against Mr. Moore was overwhelming. Failing to bring justice to Mr. Moore’s victims would shake the confidence of the public in our justice system. This prosecution needed to happen,” he wrote.
Lastly, Moore sought to argue his rights had been violated by the lengthy delay between the time he was arrested in August of 2022 and when his charges were sworn by the Crown in February of 2023. Again, Hamilton disagreed, dismissing Moore’s applications.
Sentencing submissions for Moore are scheduled to start in July.
He is also facing a class action lawsuit in civil court.
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