Two men charged with child porn offences volunteered with children

Thirteen men from the Montreal-area were charged with child pornography-related offences Thursday.

Two of the men charged this week with child pornography offences were volunteers with a scouting organization, and one of them was also a school teacher.

Claude Paquette, 31, taught grade three at Ecole Primaire Ile des Soeurs.

He began working at that school only a few months ago, in November.

The Marguerite Bourgeoys School Board was informed Thursday afternoon by the Sureté du Quebec that Paquette had been charged with production and distribution of child pornography.

The board immediately suspended Paquette, and notified parents of the charges. It has also offered help and psychological counselling for those who need it.

The Board said there have been no complaints about Paquette in his time with the board, and no indication of his alleged behaviour.

Paquette and another accused, 36-year-old Dave Turcotte, have spent the past five months volunteering with a scouting organization called L'Association des Aventuriers Baden-Powell (AABP).

They volunteered in Outremont and Beloeil respectively, spending two hours a week with children aged 9 to 12.

Turcotte has also volunteered for L'Association des Scouts du Canada as an animator. In a statement, that organization said he was kicked out in July 2015 for driving a child home alone, which is against the rules.

Nicolas Rousseau, vice-president of the AABP, said the organization has conducted thorough background checks of would-be volunteers for some time.

"We know that scouting, it's an association where people who have some deviance want to go there, and we try to do the best to protect them but we don't have 100 percent activity," said Rousseau.

In this particular case, neither of the accused has any criminal history.

"These two guys don't have criminal records before, they show up with good references and everything was good for us," said Rousseau.

He added that his organization repeats background checks every three years.

A third man who was charged, Didier Chetelat, was an assistant professor at HEC. He was hired last year.

The 27-year-old’s page on the school’s site has been taken down. HEC said due to the serious nature of the allegations, he too has been suspended.

Paquette, Turcotte, and many of the other 11 men charged will have bail hearings next Tuesday.

The school board sent a letter home to parents with guidelines about how to discuss the issue if the subject comes up.

The advice includes letting the child bring up the topic, and has suggested answers for several questions.

Lettre Soutien Aux Parents Et Enseignants (2)