Teacher pleads not guilty to sexually abusing student at Dartmouth school

DARTMOUTH, N.S. — A teacher will stand trial next fall on allegations that he sexually abused a female student in Dartmouth in 2021.

Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, of Cole Harbour was arrested in November and charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation.

Moriarty was released by police on an undertaking that prohibits him from having any contact with the complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, and five other potential witnesses.

The charges were first in Dartmouth provincial court in December.

Defence lawyer Ron Pizzo entered not-guilty pleas Wednesday on behalf of Moriarty.

Judge Michael Sherar scheduled the trial for Oct. 24.

Police opened an investigation in August 2023 after receiving a report of a sexual assault that allegedly occurred in 2021 at a school in Dartmouth.

Moriarty was a teacher at the former Prince Andrew High School in Dartmouth at the time. The school was later renamed Woodlawn High School, 

Last July, Moriarty was accused of surreptitiously recording videos of females in a washroom at Abenaki Aquatic Club in Dartmouth.

He was arrested at the paddling club on July 20 and charged with six counts of voyeurism. He was released on bail the next day.

Moriarty pleaded not guilty to the voyeurism charges in provincial court in November and is scheduled to stand trial over four days next July.

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 – formerly known as Prince Andrew High – at the time of the alleged voyeurism offences. The Halifax Regional Centre for Education placed him on leave after he was charged.