Man describes pattern of alleged sexual abuse by former Halifax teacher

WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual abuse or know someone affected by it. 

A man has testified at the trial of a former Halifax teacher that he was sexually assaulted by Jaddus Joseph Poirier dozens of times when he was a Grade 8 student.

Like the first complainant at Poirier’s trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, the man’s identity is protected by a publication ban. But unlike the first complainant, he testified that there was an alleged pattern of abuse that lasted months.

Earlier this week, the first complainant alleged that Poirier sexually assaulted him during a single episode at Poirier’s Dartmouth apartment.

The second man said he was abused dozens of times in Poirier’s apartment, at the school and in the teacher’s car, which was parked behind a church in the neighbourhood.

The man told court the abuse started when he was in Grade 8 and lasted almost that entire school year. He said Poirier, 82, would pick him up at his home in Halifax’s west end and drive him to the apartment in north-end Dartmouth.

Complainant recalls feeling ‘stunned’

The man said they would stop at a convenience store near the apartment and rent pornographic videos. He said they would then go to the apartment, where Poirier would assault him while watching the videos. 

“I just laid there like I was stunned,” the man testified.

He said he was confused as to why his teacher — who worked in Halifax schools in the 1980s — would do these things to him.

The man said on one occasion when he was serving a detention after school in Poirier’s classroom, Poirier called him to the front of the room and performed oral sex on him.

The man told the court he didn’t know why the abuse stopped suddenly after Grade 8, and said he felt he had been used.

Poirier is in poor health and the court is sitting reduced hours each day to accommodate him. His lawyer will cross-examine the second complainant when the trial resumes on Thursday.

For anyone who has been sexually assaulted, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services via this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. ​​If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.