Nova Scotia

Halifax police lay charges in relation to 2021 sexual assault allegation

Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation.

Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, charged with 1 count of sexual assault and 1 count of sexual exploitation

A brick building with a sign that says "police headquarters" on it.
Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation. He was arrested last week at Halifax Regional Police headquarters on Gottingen Street. (Robert Short/CBC)

Halifax Regional Police have charged a man in relation to a sexual assault case dating back to 2021.

Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, was charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation. He was arrested last week at Halifax Regional Police headquarters on Gottingen Street.

Police began investigating the case in August 2023, when it was first reported to them. Police say the charges relate to something that occurred in 2021 at a school in Dartmouth.

"The sexual assault survivor was a youth at the time of the incident and Moriarty was in a position of trust in relation to the survivor, as a teacher," Halifax Regional Police said in a news release.

A man wearing a white shirt is shown speaking with a woman.
Matthew Douglas Moriarty is shown in October 2023 at Dartmouth provincial court. (Blair Rhodes/CBC)

In July, Moriarty was accused of secretly recording video of people in a Dartmouth washroom. Police alleged he recorded five women and a girl in a washroom at the Abenaki Aquatic Club and laid voyeurism charges against him. The alleged offences happened July 18-20.

Moriarty is a language teacher at Woodlawn High School. The Halifax Regional Centre for Education placed him on leave.

He is scheduled to appear in Dartmouth provincial court on Dec. 5 to face the new charges as well as for a pre-trial conference. Four days in court are set aside next July for the charges connected with the aquatic club washrooms.