This was a difficult story to report on: Over 13 years, Michael McNutt abused at least 35 boys in Halifax and Dartmouth https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/over-13-years-michael-mcnutt-abused-at-least-35-boys-in-halifax-and-dartmouth/

I've been following the story since early 2017, when I got hold of a document mistakenly released by police that spelled out their investigation. At their request, I did not report on that document, but it got me looking...

And I discovered other public court documents that helped fill out the story. I read McNutt's pre-sentencing report on an earlier conviction, which is how I learned that he was pardoned for a 1994 conviction for abusing a boy, and with that pardon his criminal record was cleared

Two other things became apparent: 1) there are, by my guess, hundreds of victims, an entire generation of boys who have been affected. I understand that at least one boy went on take his own life. Other victims became heavily involved in the court system. Some...

have done better. They have happy families, good jobs. But they tell me they carry this terrible weight around. It of course affects how they operate in the world, and our entire community suffers because these adult men can not function as they otherwise would. and,

2) adults at the time knew about the abuse. McNutt was commonly referred to as a "perv," a "diddler," and so forth, and NO ONE DID ANYTHING. He was shuffled from one school to another, told to resign from one sports team, and he moved on to the next. Abusing children all along.

Some of the boys had no real parents, or came from dysfunctional homes. Others had loving but overly trusting and naive parents. And undoubtedly, many parents knew their children were coming home reeking of alcohol. It's a mix, on the home front.

But it's precisely when for whatever reason parents are unable to detect or act upon the abuse of their children, that other adults need to step in. They didn't.

So: yes, Michael McNutt was a terrible serial abuser of young children. But that's just part of the story. The focus now should be on the failure of an entire strata of teachers, principals, coaches, and other adults to intervene, and primarily, on the victims, who need support.

By the way, McNutt was not the only serial abuser of boys operating in Halifax. There were others.