School teacher in P.E.I. pleads not guilty to charges of sexual assault against youth
CBC
A man who had been teaching on Prince Edward Island for about three weeks before he was charged with sex crimes against a youth has pleaded not guilty — and his lawyer says the matter needs to go to trial soon due to his immigration status.
Roger Mbahia was charged in September after a short investigation by RCMP. The complaint came in on a Thursday, and the new Island teacher was charged the following Monday with sexual assault and sexual interference — which is the sexual touching of a person under 16.
Wednesday in provincial court in Summerside, Mbahia appeared alongside his lawyer and entered not guilty pleas to both summary charges.
Summary charges are less serious than if they had been indictable, and Mbahia’s only choice is to stay in provincial court and have his case heard by a judge. He cannot go up to P.E.I. Supreme Court or elect a jury trial.
The proceedings Wednesday were held entirely in French, with Judge Nancy Orr appearing virtually.
None of the allegations against Mbahia have been proven in court, and there has been no further information about they entail.
Those details will come out in a trial that Mbahia’s lawyer, Alison Ménard, said needs to happen soon — Mbahia is in Canada on a work permit that is set to expire in January.
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act says non-citizens will be found “inadmissible” to the country if they are convicted of a serious crime, including sexual assault. Being charged with a crime can also jeopardize a person's immigration status.
École Pierre-Chaisson in Deblois, near Tignish, previously listed Mbahia as a teacher on its website.
Compared to some other provinces, P.E.I.’s court system sets matters over for trial relatively quickly once pleas have been entered — sometimes in just a matter of weeks — but the court heard Wednesday that setting a date for a trial in French might be tricky.
Ménard requested a Crown attorney fluent in French be appointed as soon as possible, but the prosecutor handling the docket on Wednesday said their office may have to go to New Brunswick to find that person, and even then it would be subject to their availability.
Judge Orr also told Ménard they would typically bring in a judge from New Brunswick to handle a French trial, something every person accused of a crime is entitled to under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but New Brunswick judges are also very busy.
Orr has procedural French abilities that allowed Mbahia to enter his plea Wednesday, but she said she is not fluent enough to conduct a French trial herself.
Ménard estimated the trial might take up to four days.
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