Halifax police lay charges in relation to 2021 sexual assault allegation

Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation. He was arrested last week at Halifax Regional Police headquarters on Gottingen Street. (Robert Short/CBC - image credit)
Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation. He was arrested last week at Halifax Regional Police headquarters on Gottingen Street. (Robert Short/CBC - image credit)

Halifax Regional Police have charged a man in relation to a sexual assault case dating back to 2021.

Matthew Douglas Moriarty, 42, was charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation. He was arrested last week at Halifax Regional Police headquarters on Gottingen Street.

Police began investigating the case in August 2023, when it was first reported to them. Police say the charges relate to something that occurred in 2021 at a school in Dartmouth.

"The sexual assault survivor was a youth at the time of the incident and Moriarty was in a position of trust in relation to the survivor, as a teacher," Halifax Regional Police said in a news release.

In July, Moriarty was accused of secretly recording video of people in a Dartmouth washroom. Police alleged he recorded five women and a girl in a washroom at the Abenaki Aquatic Club and laid voyeurism charges against him. The alleged offences happened July 18-20.

Moriarty is a language teacher at Woodlawn High School. The Halifax Regional Centre for Education placed him on leave.

He is scheduled to appear in court in July for four days dealing with the charges connected with the aquatic club washrooms. A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for Dec. 5. Police say he will appear at Dartmouth provincial court at a "later date" for charges relating to the alleged 2021 sexual assault.

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