Former Alberta boys school headmaster who molested student granted full parole, lands consulting job

The former headmaster of a controversial Alberta boys school has been given full parole less than two years after he began a prison sentence for sexually abusing a student three decades ago.

Paul Sheppard has also lined up a job as a consultant in a health care field, his most recent Parole Board of Canada decision states.

Last month, a two-member parole board panel opted to grant Sheppard full parole, six months after he was released from prison to an Ontario halfway house.

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Board members Matthew O’Brien and Terry Hancock said they believe Sheppard will not pose an “undue risk to society” if granted less-restrictive release.

The board noted Sheppard’s “troubling history” with the criminal justice system — including an assault charge laid while he was on day parole — but also highlighted improvements since his incarceration.

“You have progressed well while on day parole, have a history of appropriate behaviour within the institution (prison), and have engaged in programming and counselling,” the board told Sheppard. “Moreover, your release history, including a prolonged period of bail, has been without incident.”

In addition to the standard reporting and supervision conditions, Sheppard has been barred from holding any positions of trust or authority, or having unsupervised contact with boys under 18. He has also been ordered to take mental health counselling that addressed sexual offending.

History of spanking offences

Sheppard, 61, was convicted in 2021 of sexually abusing Steacy Easton during the 1993-94 school year at Saint John’s School of Alberta, a defunct private boys school southwest of Edmonton.

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The sexual abuse took place under the guise of spankings, which were part of the unconventional school’s corporal punishment regime.

Sheppard appealed his conviction and his six-year sentence. He was granted bail pending appeal and did not begin serving time until September 2023 — more than two years after he was found guilty.

The Alberta Court of Appeal declined to overturn Sheppard’s conviction, but ultimately reduced his sentence to just under four years. The Crown has since appealed that verdict to the Supreme Court of Canada, which has yet to hear the case.

Sheppard received day parole July 30, 2024, after serving around 10 months for the offences at Saint John’s.

The parole board granted him early release to a half-way house, despite Sheppard’s continued insistence there was nothing sexual about his offending.

The day parole hearing revealed Sheppard had a previous conviction, which was never brought up during his trial for the offences involving Easton. As a young man, Sheppard had pleaded guilty of spanking the bare bottoms of five boys he met as a police officer in Stratford, Ont. He was initially charged with sexual assault but pleaded guilty to simple assault and was handed a suspended sentence.

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He soon after began a teaching career that would take him all over the world.

Sexual abuse allegations against Sheppard later arose stemming from his 1989 stint at England’s Ampleforth College. He was acquitted in 2015.

Consulting job

Sheppard’s most recent parole decision says he intends to return to his home in Canada’s Niagara Region.

It noted Sheppard is “semi-retired” but has found work as a “business consultant for a health sciences research and development company,” which the parole board does not identify (Sheppard holds five university degrees, including a doctorate in educational management).

The board said Sheppard has support from his community and that he has been “transparent” with friends and family about his criminal record.

The board also noted Sheppard was charged with assault with a weapon while on parole. The charge stems from allegations Sheppard forcefully spanked a former partner without his consent in 2017, before his trial for the offences involving Easton.

The former partner, Christopher Proudfoot, said he is concerned Sheppard received full parole and does not feel authorities did enough to inform him of the relaxed release conditions.

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Proudfoot says he was in a relationship with both Sheppard and Liam Coward, Sheppard’s partner, who died of an overdose in 2022 at age 28.

The assault case is next in court in Ontario March 25.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

x.com/jonnywakefield 

@jonnywakefield.bsky.social

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