Crown, defence abandon appeals of Roger Jabbour sexual touching rulings

The legal trials for Roger Jabbour appear to be over. Both the Crown and defence have abandoned separate appeals of two rulings on sex-offence related cases involving the former high school band teacher.

In September 2018, Jabbour was found guilty of sexual exploitation and sexual interference involving three former students between 2012 and 2015. The victims were all female band students of Jabbour's at Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown.

The trial judge, John Douglas, found that Jabbour had abused his position of trust as a teacher to develop close relationships with the students. The students testified that Jabbour had touched them sexually during private meetings with him at the school.

In January 2019, Jabbour was sentenced to 15 months in jail and 18 months probation. In February his lawyer asked for the convictions to be quashed, or for his time to be served under house arrest, rather than in jail.

Trial judges are given considerable deference to make decisions.— John Diamond, P.E.I. director of prosecutions

At the same time, Jabbour was facing other charges involving another student of his in the early 1990s.

In November 2018, Jabbour was acquitted of two charges of sexual exploitation involving that former student. The trial judge in this case, Nancy Orr, said she didn't find Jabbour to be a credible witness, and the complainant did provide clear and direct testimony.

However Orr found she had reasonable doubt about the woman's story because the defence produced five letters she wrote to Jabbour and his family after she graduated. The woman testified at trial that she had no contact with Jabbour after she finished at Colonel Gray.

The Crown appealed that decision in January 2019, asking the court to convict Jabbour on both counts or order a new trial.

Appeals dropped at same time

Both sides filed notice to the P.E.I. Supreme Court on May 8 that they were abandoning the appeals of the two different cases. The notices do not provide reasons for either abandonment.

P.E.I.'s director of prosecutions, John Diamond, told CBC two lawyers in his office reviewed the decision in the case in which Jabbour was acquitted, and decided there was a good chance the decision would be upheld.

"Trial judges are given considerable deference to make decisions," Diamond said, adding that the legal bar for criminal cases, isn't "likely or probable, but beyond a reasonable doubt."

"This is not to say the victim is not believed," he stressed, adding that sexual abuse cases are difficult to prosecute, because it often comes down to the complainant's word against the accused's.

No comment from defence

Jabbour's lawyer Jonathan Coady offered no further comment on the decision to abandon the appeal in the case in which Jabbour was convicted.

He confirmed that Jabbour is still in jail serving his 15-month sentence.

Those serving time in provincial jail usually serve two-thirds of their sentence behind bars, which would put Jabbour's release from jail in November.

Jabbour retired from teaching in November 2017.

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