SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — A former Prince County school bus driver has been sentenced to jail time for sending a pornographic video to a female student who travelled on his route.
John Robert Corcoran, 52, of Mill River East pleaded guilty to a single charge in September of sharing sexually explicit material with someone under 18 years of age.
Corcoran was back in provincial court Wednesday morning for sentencing. The Crown and Corcoran’s defence lawyer submitted a joint recommendation for Judge Jeff Lantz’s consideration, which was accepted.
“Students on a school bus shouldn’t be subject to behaviour like this or anything close to this. School bus drivers are in a position of trust over students,” said Lantz.
Corcoran was sentenced to serve 90 days in jail, which he received permission to do on weekends, and will be on probation for three years once his jail time is completed. His name will also be added to the national sex offender registry for a period of 10 years, and he must submit a DNA sample to the national criminal database. In addition, he has been ordered to stay away from the victim and her family.
“The worst was sitting and watching the fear in her and how upsetting this is for her considering nothing was her fault."
-Victim's mother
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According to the agreed statement of facts presented in court, over the course of several months in late 2018 Corcoran was in contact, mostly via text, with a girl under the age of 18 who travelled on his bus. They often chatted about things of a personal nature, and he complimented her physical appearance on a number of occasions. Then in January of 2019 Corcoran took a pornographic video from the internet and shared it via Facebook Messenger with the girl and some adults.
The victim confronted Corcoran about the message and eventually confided in her mother, who went with her to report the incident to the RCMP. Corcoran was charged shortly thereafter.
His defence lawyer, Joel Wonnacott, told the court that since his client was charged he has been diagnosed with PTSD and other mental health issues stemming from a traumatic incident in 2006 in which two members of his immediate family were killed and he was called on to identify the bodies. At the time of this offence, Wonnacott said Corcoran’s conditions had gone untreated for years and contributed negatively to his mental state at the time. He has since started receiving treatment.
As for the victim, the court heard that she has suffered lasting repercussions from this incident, including negative impacts to her own mental health.
Her mother read a victim impact statement to the court and said the incident has caused stress on their entire family and shaken their trust in others.
“The worst was sitting and watching the fear in her and how upsetting this is for her considering nothing was her fault,” she said.
