The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that the trial judge "erred" in his decision to acquit a retired Chatham-Kent violin teacher on dozens of charges for sexual assault and indecent assault.
A three-judge appeals panel released its decision on Tuesday, which stated that the acquittals would be set aside and has now issued 28 convictions for 73-year-old Claude Eric Trachy.
Trachy was found not guilty back in April 2018, after being charged in 2015 with indecent assault, sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual exploitation involving 25 former students in incidents that took place between 1971 and 1993. The charges stemmed from complaints by more than 20 former female students who testified the former violin teacher touched their breasts while measuring for violin chin and shoulder rests. Trachy began teaching the violin as a teenager in 1960 and continued up until his retirement in 2009.
The trial judge ruled that he didn’t have enough evidence to convict Trachy and agreed with the defence that the former violin teacher had no sexual intent and received no sexual gratification from the encounters.
Following the Crown's appeal, which was filed the month following the ruling, the panel has determined that the trial judge confused the sexual purpose of the respondent with the sexual nature of the conduct.
"These were largely girls who were in the process of developing breasts, and who were alone with the respondent in a private room with the door closed," the panel said in its ruling. "Their sexual integrity was violated, regardless of the respondent’s purpose. The acquittals on the sexual assault and indecent assault charges, therefore, cannot stand."
The appeals panel has now concluded that the "trial judge failed to give sufficient weight to the Crown’s evidence, such that he did not properly determine the respondent’s guilt or innocence."
"[Trachy] agreed that he intentionally touched the breasts of his young female students," the panel said. "They were too young to consent. He did not touch the boys’ chests, nor did he touch the breasts of his own daughter. The sexual integrity of the complainants was violated. But for the error by the trial judge, the concrete reality of this case establishes proof of the sexual and indecent nature of the touching beyond a reasonable doubt."
Trachy will now have to return to court for sentencing. The case has now been remitted to the Superior Court to ensure the "appearance of fairness" which requires that a different trial judge determine the sentencing.