A retired North Vancouver teacher has been found guilty of sexual offences against several boys, most of whom were his Grade 6 students in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Brian Melicke Moore, 85, was a popular teacher at Upper Lynn Valley Elementary from 1970 to 1982. In 2022, however, North Vancouver RCMP issued a press release stating that a former teacher from the school had been arrested following an investigation into a series of incidents involving students. In February 2023, the Crown swore 10 charges of indecent assault on a male, one count of sexual touching of a child under 14 and one count of sexual assault.
Over much of the day on Thursday, North Vancouver provincial court judge Robert Hamilton recounted the testimony of more than a dozen complainants and witnesses – almost all of whom cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban – who appeared in court over a 31-day trial.
Common themes among the allegations were that Moore would routinely take boys from his Grade 6 class on outings outside of school hours. Those included at least 20 trips to the SFU pool where, they testified, Moore insisted they shower naked and play games involving tossing or kicking bars of soap around the shower. They testified he would take them water skiing in Deep Cove where Moore would help the naked boys into wetsuits and expected them to remain naked on his boat afterwards.
More serious allegations came from some of the same boys who’d gone on overnight skiing trips with Moore in Penticton and Vernon or camping with him in the Shuswap. The victims recounted similar stories wherein Moore would require them to sleep naked. Those who had to share a bed with Moore told how he would reach over to touch them sexually or masturbate them or force their hands onto his genitals.
Most never told any adults or friends about the assaults because, they testified, they were fearful, ashamed, confused or embarrassed.
In the winter of 1982, several of the boys confided in a friend’s parent what had happened. That parent reported it to Upper Lynn Valley Elementary’s principal who called Moore to his office. Moore submitted his resignation that day, the court heard. The principal never reported the matter to police, he testified, because it was the school district’s responsibility.
There was an RCMP investigation into Moore in 1988, though it never resulted in charges.
At issue in the trial was the credibility of the witnesses’ memories and whether they had colluded with one another in compositing their stories, as Moore’s defence lawyer Mark Rowan suggested. At times, their testimony in court lacked key details or differed significantly from the statements made to police, or it contradicted some other more narrow aspects of the testimony of other victims.
But Hamilton said he believed the victims’ sincere testimonies, despite the sometimes-varying accounts in childhood memories from more than 45 years ago.
“There is also a remarkable similarity in the evidence of the complainants as to the sexual touching alleged against Mr. Moore,” he said. “Short of some compelling evidence of collusion, it is very difficult to conclude that the complainants were inventing their evidence of what they say happened to them.”
Assertions of collusion were “unfounded,” he added.
In the case of three alleged victims, Hamilton found the testimony that did not meet the threshold needed for conviction and so Moore was found not guilty on three counts. The one charge of sexual assault was also stayed by the Crown.
But in nine of the charges Moore was facing, Hamilton found him guilty.
“This is an overwhelming case for the prosecution,” he said.
Some of the most compelling evidence about Moore’s pattern of behaviour came from one victim who was not one of Moore’s students but rather a family friend he was babysitting at times between 2005 and 2007, Hamilton said. In that case, Moore’s lawyer suggested to the victim that it was actually his own brother who carried out the sexual touching. Hamilton dismissed that as “preposterous.”
Hamilton also specifically flagged the inappropriate contact Moore had with the victims before the more serious assaults occurred.
“I found Mr. Moore’s behaviour to be a form of grooming the boys for other more intrusive acts,” he said. “Stripping naked with your Grade 6 teacher is unimaginable, even when showering after swimming.”
Several of the victims, now in their 50s, sat in the court to hear the conclusion of the trial.
North Vancouver victim speaks out
Outside the court, Dennis Cooper – one of the only victims to have the publication on his name lifted and the “driving force” behind the police investigation – said he became choked up hearing Hamilton read out the guilty verdicts.
“It’s a bittersweet day, for sure. It’s been a long time coming. It’s almost pushing three years since we gave our report and came forward,” he said. “It’s been a hard day for a lot of guys.”
A date for sentencing has not yet been set. Moore and the North Vancouver School District still face a class action lawsuit from several of the victims.
Cooper said he doesn’t take any position on what punishment Moore should face following the criminal trial.
“He’s an 85-year-old guy. He’s fairly decrepit in a wheelchair, walking with two canes. So the idea that he needs to be put in jail, I’m kind of past that, personally,” he said. “The day I testified and held him accountable, and he was charged was more of an impactful moment to make sure that he wasn’t able to just wander into the night quietly.”
Although the court process was challenging to go through, the victims have found some healing in talking with their loved ones about what happened, Cooper said. Most never told anyone until the 2022 RCMP investigation, he added.
Cooper said he would “absolutely” advise others who have been living with untold stories of sexual assault to report them to the police.
“That is the hope, obviously – that the telling of our story brings others forward, to have enough courage and fortitude to tell their own and to make a stance for justice,” he said. “The shame that these guys carry for decades, we just have to remind ourselves that as an 11-year-old child, you did nothing wrong.”
This story has been amended to correct the number of guilty verdicts in the case.
