I didn’t molest that boy, accused Nunavut teacher testifies

The former Kimmirut teacher, Phillip Flynn, said under oath at the Nunavut Court of Justice June 10 that he did not molest a former student he is alleged to have sexually assaulted during a trip on the land. (FILE PHOTO)

Former Kimmirut teacher Philip Flynn, who faces two sex charges involving a male former student, testified in his defence at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit June 10, denying an allegation that he sexually molested the boy.

Flynn told Justice Andy Mahar that during his 15 years as a teacher and guidance counsellor in Kimmirut, he spent his own money and time helping current and former students by giving them gifts, taking them on trips out on the land and creating a “safe place” in his home where students could drop by and hang out.

“Some people thought I was too close to students,” Flynn testified on the second day of the judge-alone trial.

“I felt like I was making a difference.”

In April 2013, Kimmirut police charged Flynn with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation.

Both charges relate to an incident alleged by a former student to have taken place between 1999 and 2004 during a trip to a secluded cabin outside Kimmirut, when the student was in Grade 10 or Grade 11.

The complainant’s identity cannot be published, by court order.

The former student, who testified at the trial June 9 and June 10, alleged that Flynn molested him from behind as they both lay in the cabin’s bunk bed.

But Flynn told the court that he doesn’t even remember a trip to the cabin with the complainant, although Flynn added it’s “possible” a trip happened and he can’t remember.

“Do you recall sleeping beside the complainant on any land trip?” defence lawyer Paul Falvo asked Flynn June 10.

“No,” Flynn replied.

“Did you touch [the complainant’s] penis?” Falvo asked.

“No,” Flynn said.

“Did you ever touch him inappropriately?”

“No.”

The complainant testified June 9 that Flynn tried bribing him into silence about what happened, and that Flynn provided the underage boys with alcohol on that trip.

But Flynn denied both of those allegations as well, saying the complainant never confronted him about being molested.

Flynn did admit to drinking alcohol with students while in Kimmirut, but only when they were of legal age.

Flynn testified that, while in Kimmirut, he became “passionate” about suicide prevention, in part because he himself attempted suicide when he was a teenager.

Flynn began a suicide prevention program in Kimmirut, the court heard, and counselled many students on both suicide and drug addiction.

Before Flynn took the stand, Falvo cross-examined the complainant.

The complainant’s inability to remember some specific details — like who, exactly, was on the trip to the cabin — shows that the complainant isn’t telling the whole truth, Falvo said.

“I’m saying that the reason you’re having difficulty remembering some of this is because Mr. Flynn never touched you. You’re making that part up,” Falvo said.

“No,” the complainant replied.

Falvo’s questions focused largely on the complainant’s relationship with Flynn, which the court heard lasted nearly 10 years after the alleged incident in the cabin took place.

The complainant would go to Flynn’s house between once a week and once a month over those 10 years, the court heard, and would borrow money from Flynn as well as accept gifts of clothes, food and money.

On one occasion, Flynn flew the complainant to Ottawa because the complainant was “having troubles with drugs,” Flynn said.

The pair slept in separate beds in a shared a hotel room on that trip, and the complainant paid Flynn back with cash, the former teacher testified.

On another occasion, the complainant admitted asking Flynn if he could borrow a few hundred dollars.

The complainant was a weed dealer, had been skimming money off the profits and now owed his own weed dealer money, Falvo said, and the complainant agreed.

After Falvo’s questions, Crown prosecutor Zachary Horricks asked the complainant why he still hung out with Flynn after the alleged incident at the cabin.

The complainant replied that he felt “trapped” and was “scared” not to hang out with Flynn.

“I was embarrassed. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to lose my friends,” the complainant answered.

“What did you think would happen if you didn’t go over to Mr. Flynn’s house?” Horricks asked.

The complainant began to answer, but his voice cracked; he rubbed his face with the palm of his hand and took a tissue from the box on the witness stand.

“Nobody would talk to me… I thought my friends would no longer like me,” he finally said.

When Flynn took the stand in the late afternoon of June 10, Falvo asked Flynn if he knew why the complainant needed the “couple hundred dollars.”

Flynn said he knew the money was to pay off a weed dealer.

“Why did you give it to him, then?” Falvo asked.

“I didn’t want to see him get beat up or hurt,” Flynn answered, adding, “That was a one-time thing.”

Just before being charged in connection with this case, Flynn said a good friend of his — along with his friend’s wife and child — had died.

That’s a reference to the double murder and suicide that rocked the community during the Easter weekend of 2013.

Flynn’s shoulders shook and he sobbed on the stand as he told Mahar about the sequence of events leading up to his arrest.

When Flynn found out about the complainant’s allegations, Flynn said he himself became suicidal.

“I didn’t want to live anymore… so I took a bunch of pills.”

Flynn’s testimony ended shortly before 5 p.m. June 10, and prosecutor Horricks is expected to begin his cross-examination of that testimony at 9:30 a.m. on June 11.

Before adjourning court for the day, Mahar told the court he hopes to deliver a verdict this week still.

“I don’t want to reserve judgement, so that’s my plan,” the judge said.