A former violin teacher in Chatham-Kent, originally found not guilty of dozens of sex-related offences, has been found guilty.
The crown in the case against 73-year-old Claude Trachy appealed the original decision from April 23, 2018 and the Ontario Court of Appeal on Tuesday reversed some of the original judgement citing the trial judge erred in law.
As a result, Tracy is now guilty of 28 counts of sexual assault and indecent assault while two counts were stayed.
The case goes back to court for sentencing.
During the 13-day trial, court heard the young girls, in their early teens, were taking violin lessons with Trachy from 1971 to 1993.
Trachy testified that the shoulder rests were helpful to his violin students and that measuring their bodies was necessary to get a proper fit.
He would have the female students undo their blouses and remove their bra. He would then use a ruler to measure from the top of the collarbone to the nipple.
In some cases, he would ask them to play 'disrobed' to make sure the rest was properly fitted.
But he denied there was any sexual intent and did not get any sexual gratification.
He would only measure female students--not the male ones and he did not measure his daughter when she was a student.
The Ontario Court of Appeal found the girl's 'sexual integrity was violated, regardless of the respondent's purpose'.
The higher court also noted the girls were in a private room with the door closed.
The original acquittals on the sexual exploitation and sexual interference charges remain in place.