Former teacher who exposed himself to teen boy has sentence suspended

Sentence has been suspended in the case of a 69- year- old Charlottetown man who pleaded guilty Thursday in provincial court to exposing his genitals to a 15- yearold boy in a washroom at Confederation Centre.

Wayne Sutherland Bell has been placed on probation for 12 months.

While on probation, he must undergo assessment, counselling and treatment for the use of alcohol or drugs or any other underlying issue that may have contributed to the commission of this offence.

He is also prohibited from using any washroom at the Confederation Centre of the Arts with the exception of the main men’s washroom in the centre’s lower foyer. Bell must also pay a $ 100 victims of crime surcharge.

The court was told the victim was seated in a cubicle in one of the centre’s washrooms when Bell stuck his head under the bottom of the partition dividing the victim’s cubicle from his own and looked up.

But it’s what happened next that really shook the victim, Crown prosecutor Valerie Moore said.

After removing his head from under the partition, Bell lowered his body so that his genitals were completely visible to the victim.

Moore said the victim was very upset by the actions of the accused. He waited for Bell to leave the adjacent cubicle and when he did, the victim punched Bell in the face.

In court Thursday, Bell said this had been the most horrible experience of his life and that he regretted his actions from the bottom of his heart.

He said that never in his life had he done anything so inappropriate.

Jordan Brown, Bell’s defence counsel, noted Bell had been a school teacher for four decades and had never experienced any problems. Bell had no prior criminal record and no addictions issues.