Lawsuits detail disturbing sexual abuse allegations against former Halifax teacher

WARNING: This story contains details that readers may find disturbing

A series of civil lawsuits filed in Nova Scotia’s Supreme Court have revealed disturbing allegations of sexual abuse against former Halifax teacher Michael McNutt.

The six cases were launched between 2013 and 2017 by individual plaintiffs, who claim that McNutt sexually assaulted them while they were under his care, either as students or athletes on teams that he coached.

The alleged abuses, which range from unwanted massages to oral sex allegedly performed by McNutt on a student during after-school detention, are said to have taken place during the 1980s. Many of the plaintiffs say the abuses were repeated over several months, and in one case, nearly 100 times.

According to the documents, all of the alleged victims were boys at the time, ranging in age from 11 or 12 to young teenagers.

The lawsuits are separate from the 27 criminal charges McNutt faces in Dartmouth Provincial Court for sexual abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s. McNutt, 66, was arrested on 14 counts of gross indecency and 13 counts of indecent assault last week, and has since been released on bail with the condition that he not contact any of the 13 alleged victims involved, or any males under the age of 18.

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The civil cases describe McNutt as having been in a position of trust with the plaintiffs, and having abused that trust and their vulnerability to sexually manipulate them as children. McNutt has denied that any of the alleged abuses took place.

In some of the lawsuits, he is alleged to have built trust and favour with the boys first by offering them rides or lunch, or alcohol and cigarettes. In two instances, McNutt is also alleged to have threatened the plaintiffs if they told anyone, and in one case, he reportedly threatened to harm a plaintiff’s younger sister as well.

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In one extreme example, a plaintiff claims that McNutt lured him and his friends to secluded areas such as Kearney Lake and the Bicentennial Motel on multiple occasions, where he performed sexual acts on the boy – or demanded them – as his friends watched. This allegedly took place about 20 times over several months, resulting in the victim’s post-traumatic stress disorder, loss of schooling, psychological trauma and other harms.

Five of the six lawsuits also name the former Halifax Regional School Board as being culpable, and some also name various local hockey organizations. The documents say these organizations ought to have known about McNutt’s behaviour, and failed to adequately screen him before hiring, investigate him, or terminate his employment.

The board and the hockey groups deny their guilt in statements of defence, claiming they had no knowledge of the alleged offences, and that at no time, did they incite, permit or allow McNutt’s alleged offences.

The cases include schools in Halifax and Cherrybrook, N.S., and several locations in Dartmouth.

McNutt is scheduled to appear in court to face the criminal charges against him on Feb. 27.