Former N.S. teacher gets house arrest for sex crimes involving teenaged boys
PICTOU, N.S. — A former Nova Scotia teacher with bipolar disorder who sexually abused one teenage male student and sent sexually explicit texts to another has been sentenced to 15 months of house arrest by a judge who said the mandatory minimum of one year in jail was too harsh.
Judge Del Atwood told court Wednesday that a one-year jail term would be “grossly disproportionate” to the crimes committed by Carolyn Amy Hood of Stellarton, N.S., defence lawyer Joel Pink said outside court.
“When he said it was grossly disproportionate, he was saying that the minimum sentence was unconstitutional,” Pink said, referring to a section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
Atwood said only one incident involved Hood performing a sex act on a Grade 9 student in Pictou County, while her interaction with a Grade 11 student involved no physical contact.