A former Saskatchewan music and band teacher sentenced to prison last month in a Yorkton court was given more prison time by an Ontario court on similar charges.
Gerard Loehr, 58, was handed a 3.1-year prison sentence in Ottawa Provincial Court on May 11 to be served consecutive to his 1.7-year Saskatchewan prison sentence.
In 2019 Ottawa Police charged Loehr with 22 sexual assault and sexual interference offences against 11 students. He was convicted on 13 of the charges against seven children.
Ottawa Police say Loehr taught middle school level music in the west end of Ottawa between 2000 and 2003. He also taught privately in his home.Â
In April, Loehr was sentenced in Yorkton Provincial Court to 1.7 years in prison on three counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual interference. He was found guilty in Wynyard Provincial Court in November 2020. His sentencing was delayed until April due to a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and bad weather.
On the Saskatchewan charges, Loehr was arrested in Ottawa in February 2020 and brought back to Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan charges against Loehr were the result of an historic sexual assault investigation by Wynyard RCMP launched in 2019. A woman had contacted them to report an historic sexual assault and five others later came forward to police.
During Loehr’s trial in Wynyard Provincial Court in July 2020, five former students testified. The students ranged in age from 12 to 14 at the time of the incidents.
The court heard that the victims encountered Loehr in the 90s when he was a band and music teacher in Wynyard and Foam Lake schools for the Shamrock School Division.
Loehr left Saskatchewan in 1996 and then taught in Ottawa schools.
Loehr has to provide a DNA sample and will be on the sex offender registry for life. He was given a lifetime ban from seeking employment or volunteering with anyone under the age of 16.
