Speaking generally, University of Manitoba assistant law professor Brandon Trask said people convicted of sexual offences involving children typically face stiffer penalties if they were in a position of authority at the time the incidents occurred.

“When you’ve got somebody in a corrections type role, if they are found to be guilty, that’s horrible because those children, their liberty is significantly taken away. They are essentially forced to be around the folks who are, in these cases, alleged to have used their positions to abuse these children,” Trask said.