Montreal teacher pleads guilty to sex crimes involving 5 girls
CTV
A Montreal elementary school teacher has pleaded guilty to several sex-related crimes involving five young girls.
A Montreal elementary school teacher pleaded guilty on Tuesday to sex-related crimes involving five young female students whom he manipulated into acts of sexual abuse.
Dominic Blanchette admitted guilt on eight counts, including sexual interference, possession of child pornography, child luring and sexual exploitation. More than a dozen other charges were stayed.
Blanchette, 28, who taught in the city's Montreal North borough at two different schools, used his influence as a teacher and basketball coach to groom and exploit a total of five victims, who were in grades 5 and 6 when they first met him. The crimes occurred between September 2017 and May 2022.
Prosecutor Annabelle Sheppard told reporters after Tuesday's hearing that some of Blanchette's victims were as young as 10 years old.
"We're talking about students, vulnerable people who were his students or were coached by him. They can't consent at their ages to the situations in question."
Initially, Blanchette was hit with several charges involving an 11-year-old girl in incidents that began in December 2021 and ended with his arrest after her mother complained to police. At the time, Blanchette apologized and told a Montreal police investigator that no other victims would come forward, but police discovered several other victims once his arrest was publicized.
He pleaded guilty to sexual interference of four girls, and to charges of possession of child pornography, computer luring and sexual exploitation. The Quebec court judge summarily convicted him on one count of sexual interference involving a fifth victim; Blanchette admitted that the Crown had sufficient evidence against him on that charge.
