PEI

Sex charges against former school youth worker being transferred to Alberta

The Crown prosecutor confirmed Tuesday that Arthur Francis McGuigan will be pleading guilty to the sex charges against him, but he'll be doing it in a courtroom in Fort McMurray, Alta., where he now lives.

Court agrees to transfer charges for Arthur Francis McGuigan

Former high school youth worker Art McGuigan walks into provincial court in Charlottetown last month. (Brian Higgins/CBC)

The Crown prosecutor confirmed Tuesday that Arthur Francis McGuigan will be pleading guilty to the sex charges against him, but he'll be doing it in a courtroom in Fort McMurray, Alta., where he now lives.

The charges date back to between Jan. 2009 and Jan. 2010 to when McGuigan was working as a youth worker at Bluefield High School.

McGuigan is charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a young person. The victim was female and between 14 and 18 at the time.

He is also charged with trafficking in marijuana during the same time period, and that charge is also being transferred to Alberta.

McGuigan had been travelling back and forth from Alberta for previous court appearances, but he did not appear in P.E.I. Supreme Court Tuesday. A lawyer spoke on his behalf.  

This is the second time McGuigan has faced sex-related charges.

In 2014 he was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for similar charges against a female student. They included one count of luring a child using a computer, two counts of sexual exploitation of a young person between the ages of 14 and 18, and one count of trafficking methamphetamine.

The Crown prosecutor Gerald Quinn said Tuesday it could be several months before the sentencing happens in Alberta.

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With files from Brian Higgins