An 85-year-old former North Vancouver school teacher should receive a double-digit sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing students decades ago, Crown prosecutors have argued.
Brian Moore was convicted on nine sex-related charges, including indecent assault, sexual touching and sexual assault, in April. He had originally been facing a dozen charges.
The court heard the historic assaults involved 11- and 12-year-old boys, mostly while he was working as a teacher at Upper Lynn Valley Elementary between 1970 and 1982.
On Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Eleasha Sabourin said Moore’s actions were calculated and premeditated.
“Mr. Moore has not demonstrated any remorse,” she told the court.
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“Mr. Moore’s conduct was planned and practiced. It was the same conduct over and over again.”
Sabourin told the court that, given Moore’s advanced age and health conditions, a federal sentence was the only appropriate option, and that he could be housed in a psycho-geriatric unit such as the one at the Matsqui Institution.
The kinds of care available in a provincial jail would not be appropriate, she said.
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At trial, the court heard how Moore set up situations during class trips that would allow him to sexually touch his victims.
Former students testified that Moore would insist they be naked during certain activities and would sexually assault them in bed.
Moore’s lawyer, Mark Rowan, argued for a conditional sentence, to be served in the community, of two years less a day.
Rowan said that an apology letter signed by Moore had been submitted to the court.
He highlighted Moore’s poor health, and said his client has renal dysfunction, lymphoma and has had bladder and nasal cancer. Moore is incontinent, wears diapers and has difficulty walking, he told the court.
“He’s very frail,” he said.
“He poses absolutely no threat to anybody.”
Rowan added that Moore would not likely live as long as the sentence Crown is seeking.
One victim who agreed to be identified says a prison sentence isn’t necessarily what he’s looking for.
“He’s an 85-year-old guy. He’s fairly decrepit, in a wheelchair, walking with two canes, so the idea that he needs to be put in jail, I’m kind of past that, personally,” Dennis Cooper said outside the North Vancouver Provincial Court.
“So the day I testified and held him accountable, and (the day) he was charged was more of an impactful moment to make sure that he wasn’t able to just wander into the night quietly.”
The judge is expected to deliver his sentence in August.
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