Dartmouth teacher charged with 2021 sexual assault

DARTMOUTH, N.S. — Halifax Regional Police have charged a Dartmouth teacher with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation.

Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, was arrested and charged in connection with an alleged 2021 assault of a student at the school in Dartmouth where Moriarty was teaching.

The Cole Harbour man was arrested at Halifax police headquarters after turning himself in last Thursday and is awaiting a court appearance.

Police aren’t releasing further details to protect the identity of the survivor.

Moriarty is already awaiting trial on six charges of voyeurism at the Abenaki paddling club, where he is alleged to have surreptitiously used his cellphone to record videos of five females in the washroom in July.

He has pleaded not guilty on those charges, scheduled to be heard in court next July. At least one of the complainants was under the age of 18.

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 has proceeded by indictment on those charges, meaning each offence carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison upon conviction.