Nunavut judge: reasonable doubt led to accused teacher’s acquittal

Former Nunavut teacher Philip Flynn approaches the Iqaluit courthouse with two family members. Justice Andy Mahar acquitted him of two sex charges involving a complainant who was one of his students 10 to 15 years ago. (PHOTO BY THOMAS ROHNER)

Philip Flynn, the former Kimmirut teacher accused of molesting a former male student, is not guilty of sexual assault and not guilty of sexual exploitation.

Flynn covered his face and held back a sob as Justice Andy Mahar acquitted him of the charges in an Iqaluit courtroom June 12.

Moments later, Flynn shared a long hug with two family members over the railing separating the courtroom from the court gallery. All three cried openly.

The verdict comes at the end of a three-day trial, which finished June 11, and included testimony from the complainant and Flynn.

A former male student alleged in 2013 that Flynn fondled his penis while the teacher chaperoned a group of high school boys on a non-school-related trip to a cabin outside Kimmirut sometime between 1999 and 2004.

Mahar found the trip did occur and that Flynn did provide the boys with alcohol, despite Flynn’s denial of those facts during the trial.

But in coming to his verdict, Mahar said the complainant was likely hung-over and half asleep at the time the incident was alleged to have occurred.

And, Mahar added, the complainant’s allegation of a two-second fondling episode was the only such incident in a longstanding and mutual friendship, which basically continued up until the time Kimmirut police charged Flynn.

“I have to have reasonable doubt,” Mahar said.

In his ruling, Mahar found the “gruelling and highly skilled” cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Zachary Horricks on June 11 left Flynn’s credibility “in tatters.”

But, Mahar added, he didn’t find Flynn intentionally misled the court or that Flynn’s evidence was “incredible.”

Mahar said the complainant’s testimony was honest and believable, and that the complainant’s description of confronting Flynn about the incident had “the ring of truth.”

But Mahar said he had trouble believing the complainant’s testimony about feeling “trapped” in a friendship with Flynn while the complainant continued to accept gifts of clothes, money, food and trips.

In a case that basically pits one person’s word against another’s, the burden of proof is very high on the Crown, Mahar said.

“These cases are very hard for the Crown to prove.”

The complainant was not in court when Mahar read his verdict. A family member of the complainant was, but she left quickly after Mahar made his ruling.

Flynn and his family members also left the courtroom shortly after Mahar handed down his verdict in the case.

Flynn’s defence lawyer Paul Falvo told media outside the courtroom that being charged with a criminal offence “can be one of the worst things in the world.”

“If your house burns down, your neighbours will rally around and support you… but when a person is accused of a criminal offence, people will turn their backs on them. People will often just presume that things are true,” Falvo said.

Even though the verdict is a positive outcome for his client, Falvo said the toll the process has taken on Flynn is substantial.

“Accusations of this nature — whether proven or not, whether true or not —can ruin a person’s reputation, making it difficult for anyone who’s been accused to return to their field,” Falvo said.

But people in the North are “understandably and rightly sensitive” to allegations of sexual abuse, Falvo added, especially if those allegations involve southerners in positions of authority.

This trial was about more than just this specific allegation, Falvo said.

“We heard testimony about the struggle of being a youth in Kimmirut,” especially with respect to suicide and substance abuse, the lawyer said.

Trying to help those youth took a big toll on Flynn, Falvo said, “but it’s even worse for the people in the community, for the struggles they deal with on a daily basis.”