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Apr 24, 2025 12:39 PM - The Canadian Press

Six-year sentence restored for former Alberta school headmaster guilty of sex assault

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Sheppard was sentenced to six years in prison, but the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled it was unfit and reduced the term to just under four years.

Canada's highest court has restored a six-year prison sentence for a former headmaster of a defunct boys' school in Alberta who sexually assaulted a student. Paul Sheppard was convicted in 2021 of sex offences against the Grade 7 student at Saint John's School of Alberta, southwest of Edmonton, between 1993 and 1994.

The victim, Steacy Easton, was granted a court application to have a publication ban on their name removed. Sheppard was sentenced to six years in prison, but the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled it was unfit and reduced the term to just under four years. The Supreme Court of Canada says the original six-year term is re-instated and Sheppard must turn himself in to authorities by Friday. Sheppard's trial heard he watched the victim shower and spanked the student as a means of punishment.

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