Teacher pleads not guilty to Dartmouth voyeurism charges
DARTMOUTH, N.S. — A teacher accused of surreptitiously recording videos of females in a washroom at a Dartmouth paddling club this summer has pleaded not guilty to six charges of voyeurism.
Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, of Cole Harbour was arrested at Abenaki Aquatic Club on July 20 and released on bail the next day.
Lawyer Jennifer MacDonald entered not-guilty pleas on behalf of Moriarty on Friday, when she appeared in Dartmouth provincial court by phone from Sydney, where she’s involved in a lengthy trial.
Judge Jill Hartlen booked Moriarty’s trial for four days in July 2024. A pre-trial conference will be held next month.
Halifax Regional Police allege Moriarty used his cellphone to commit the offences between July 18 and 20.
The identities of the five alleged victims are protected by a publication ban. At least one of the complainants was under the age of 18 when she was allegedly recorded in a washroom stall.
Moriarty was employed as a teacher at Woodlawn High School in Dartmouth at the time. The Halifax Regional Centre for Education placed him on leave after he was charged.
The Crown proceeded by indictment on the charges, so each offence carries a maximum penalty of five years of prison.
Moriarty has had the conditions of his $3,000 bail order varied twice with the consent of the Crown since he was released from custody July 21.
He is prohibited from having contact with the complainants or being within 100 metres of their residences, schools or places of employment, as well as the aquatic club on Bell Lake.
Moriarty cannot communicate with or be around anyone under the age of 18 except his own children and is not to visit any parks, playgrounds, schools, community centres or other places where children are likely to be present. The Crown agreed to add an exception permitting Moriarty to visit Point Pleasant Park in Halifax while in the company of his father.
He’s also banned from possessing a pager, cellphone or any device capable of connecting to the internet, but has an exception to allow him to exchange emails with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, his wife or his lawyer, providing his father is present.
