An 85-year-old former elementary school teacher, Brian Melicke Moore, has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for the sexual abuse of nine children over several decades.
Moore was convicted on April 3, 2025, after a 31-day trial that concluded in February 2025. The convictions include eight counts of indecent assault involving Grade Six male students between 1976 and 1982, and one count of touching a young person for a sexual purpose involving the eight-year-old son of close family friends between 2005 and 2007.
Judge McDermid stated the sentence “must denounce Mr. Moore’s crimes in very strong terms,” noting Moore’s moral blameworthiness was “at the very high end.” He found the crimes were “planned and deliberate” and executed through years of grooming, manipulation, and leveraging authority over his victims.
Grooming Pattern and Profound Victim Impact
Moore, who taught Grade Six in North Vancouver from 1970 to 1982, was described as a popular teacher who used outings, such as ski trips and water-skiing, to build trust and gain access to young boys.
The judge detailed a pattern where Moore isolated the boys, created “special opportunities,” normalized nudity, and shared beds before escalating to sexual touching. In the case of the family friend’s son, the abuse was found to be a betrayal of a “grandfather figure” position.
Victim impact statements revealed lifelong consequences for the victims, including PTSD, addiction, broken marriages, and mistrust of authority. “The trauma inflicted by Mr. Moore is immeasurable… I have been divorced four times, battled addiction, and lived with shame and anger my entire life,” wrote one victim, Dennis Cooper.
The Crown had sought a total of 16 years, reduced to eight years under the totality principle. The defence argued for a non-custodial sentence, citing Moore’s age and medical frailty, including Stage-4 renal failure. The judge firmly rejected this, ruling that each offence was a separate criminal transaction requiring consecutive sentencing to acknowledge each victim.
Citing the Supreme Court of Canada, Judge McDermid reiterated that “All sexual offences against children are violent crimes.” He found that federal correctional facilities could manage Moore’s medical needs.
The court imposed 8 years in federal custody, alongside a lifetime Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA) order and a lifetime ban on positions of trust involving minors.
This was a decision of Judge Hamilton.