CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Former high school music teacher Roger Jabbour has dropped the appeal of his conviction of sex offences involving students.
He had been appealing the convictions on grounds involving a question of law alone.
He was looking for the Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal to quash the convictions and substitute verdicts of acquittal or substitute a sentence of a conditional sentence order for the custodial sentence imposed by the trial judge in provincial court.
Jabbour, 66, was convicted of three sex offences in late January.
He was sentenced to 15 months in jail and 18 months on probation after his release.
During the submissions on Jan. 29, defence lawyer Joel Pink argued for a sentence of no more than six months of house arrest, while Crown attorney Valerie Moore sought a jail term of 18 months to two years less a day.
Judge John Douglas said he considered several aggravating factors in his ruling, including that the victims were younger than 18, the offences involved a breach of trust and Jabbour showed an ongoing pattern of behaviour.
He said Jabbour didn’t accept responsibility for his actions and the offences had a serious impact on the victims.
In a separate case, Jabbour was acquitted in November on two counts of sexual exploitation involving a fourth former student, but the Crown had appealed that decision.
However, the Crown has abandoned that appeal coinciding with Jabbour’s decision to drop his appeal of convictions in the other court case.
Jabbour, who retired from teaching in November 2017, is still in jail serving his 15-month sentence.
