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The ChronicleHerald

Letters: letters@herald.ca


HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | Tuesday March 27, 2007


Ex-teacher’s trial breaks until May


By MONICA GRAHAM


NEW GLASGOW — The case against a former Stellarton High School teacher facing sex charges was adjourned in New Glasgow provincial court Monday to allow lawyers time to transcribe videotaped interviews.

Carl Ronald Skidmore, 66, will be back in court May 14 to face 16 charges, including two of sexually touching a person under the age of 18 years with whom he had an exploitative relationship.

He is also charged with two counts of paying children for their sexual services and one count of attempting to obtain sexual services from a young person.

The sex-related offences are alleged to have taken place between May and February.

He also faces five counts of trafficking in a substance considered to be marijuana, one of marijuana possession, and five counts of conspiracy with others, including an undercover police officer, to traffic in marijuana.

Stellarton police arrested Mr. Skidmore at his home on Feb. 16, seizing sexually explicit videotapes featuring local boys.

Despite a four-month undercover investigation into allegations of child pornography production, no sex-related charges were initially laid against Mr. Skidmore because the youths involved were over 14, the legal age of consent in Canada.

The five sex-related charges were laid two weeks ago after the evidence was examined by a special prosecutor.

But it will take about six weeks to transcribe all the videotaped interviews with witnesses and provide defence lawyer Duncan Beveridge with copies, Crown attorney Craig Botterill said Monday.

While Mr. Skidmore was in custody the night of his arrest, his house was burglarized and a safe and other items were stolen. Police dragged the safe out of a Pictou County river the next day and arrested eight local people.

Five of them appeared in the same court Monday as Mr. Skidmore.

They face charges of possession of stolen property. They are Peter D. Spears, 27; Roger Callahan, 55; Brenda J. Priest, 45; Amanda J. Castonguay, 26; and Samson J. Castonguay, 24.

They will return April 2 and April 10 to enter pleas.

The three other suspects are young people who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. One is charged with break, enter and theft. Two are charged with possession of stolen property.

( mgraham@herald.ca)