Former music teacher’s trial begins
A female complainant, now 21, in the sexual assault trial of a former Colonel Gray High School music teacher told the court that she loved music and wanted to pursue it as a career.
Those aspirations ended when she quit the school’s band program after one school year because of alleged relations with that teacher — Roger James Jabbour.
Jabbour, 65, appeared in P.E.I. Provincial Court in Charlottetown on Monday for trial.
He is charged with three counts of sexual assault, three counts of sexual interference and two counts of sexual exploitation involving three female complainants.
The complainant testified that she was 15 and a Grade 10 student when she met Jabbour and enrolled in the school’s band program.
She said that Jabbour would email her at nights to discuss the class, other students and Jabbour’s personal life, such as his desire to get a divorce.
She said her role was similar to that of a “confidant”.
The relationship evolved into back rubs, holding hands, full hugs and kissing her hands, cheeks, head and face, but never full on the lips, she told the court.
Then, she said, for about once a week for six weeks, the two would go in a room near the former teacher’s office after school hours, where Jabbour would pull her onto his lap with her straddling his legs and kiss her. She testified that she could feel his erect penis underneath her.
After her 16th birthday near the end of the school year, she said she reached a breaking point, ended the relationship and quit the band program.
She testified that Jabbour said he loved her and that she could have stopped the sexual relations at any point. But she said she didn’t feel she could because of his position of power. She added that Jabbour didn’t want anyone else to know about the relations and accused her of seducing him.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Jabbour’s lawyer, Joel Pink, questioned the complainant on details of her testimony and statement to police. He also questioned her about her contact with the two other complainants and whether she encouraged them to come forward. She said she didn’t share information about her experiences in detail but did say she discussed Jabbour’s personal life and marriage with one complainant and that there was sexual abuse between her and the former teacher.
Pink noted that the complainant attended Jabbour’s son’s birthday party after the relations ended.
A second complainant, now 21, also took the stand on Monday, and she, too, was at Jabbour’s son’s birthday party that year.
The second complainant testified that she entered the band program in Grade 10 at the same time as the first complainant when she was 15 but stayed in the program until the end of high school. She said that contact with Jabbour evolved into long periods of hugging with him kissing her on the cheeks and neck. In July, she told Jabbour she didn’t want to have contact with him anymore. In September 2017, the police contacted her about the other alleged incidents.
The trial is scheduled to resume today with a third complainant expected to testify. A publication ban is in place preventing the publication of the complainants’ identities.