Winnipeg Free Press: Former school worker’s guilty plea exposes a hidden five-year abuse pattern
A former student support worker with the Seven Oaks School Division has admitted to sex and luring-related offences involving five female youths and other unidentified victims spanning five years. The Winnipeg Free Press case now moves toward sentencing, with the former worker remaining in custody.
What happened in court?
Matthew Mousseau, 38, appeared in Winnipeg court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation and one count each of luring, accessing child sexual abuse material, voyeurism, indecent exposure and providing liquor to minors. The Crown told court it will seek a sentence of up to 28 years in prison.
Mousseau worked for the Seven Oaks School Division from September 2016 to June 2018 as an educational support worker, then from August 2018 until October 2020 as a student-parent support worker. He was previously listed online as a student-parent support worker for the division’s Wayfinders mentorship program. His sentencing will come later, after reports are completed on his personal background.
Why does the Winnipeg Free Press case matter beyond one courtroom?
The Winnipeg Free Press case reaches beyond the actions of one man because it involves girls and young people who came into contact with a school worker in positions tied to support and mentorship. The court record describes offences spanning five years, which means the harm was not a single event but a pattern that unfolded over time.
Crown attorney Alanna Littman told court, reading from an agreed statement of facts, that Mousseau was first arrested and charged with voyeurism in May 2024 after police carrying out a shoplifting investigation at Polo Park mall found him with a cellphone he had “strategically” taped inside a shopping bag next to a small hole. Police later reviewed recent photos and videos on the phone that captured him walking closely to females in the shopping mall. His phone also contained several videos of young girls engaged in sex acts.
What do the facts say about the investigation?
The facts presented in court show how one investigation opened into another. What began as a shoplifting inquiry led police to a hidden phone, then to images and videos that broadened the case significantly. The court heard that Mousseau gave police permission to look at his phone, which became a central piece of evidence in the proceedings.
For the school division, the case raises questions that remain unanswered in the court record about oversight, trust, and the vulnerability of students and young people who encounter adults in support roles. Those questions are part of why the guilty plea carries weight beyond the legal process itself.
What comes next for the accused and the community?
Mousseau remains in custody and will be sentenced at a later date after the completion of reports examining his personal background. The Crown’s requested sentence of up to 28 years signals the seriousness of the offences before the court.
For families, students, and staff connected to Seven Oaks School Division, the case leaves a difficult reality in place: the record is now clearer, but the impact is not erased. In that sense, the Winnipeg Free Press case is not only about what was admitted in court. It is also about the long shadow cast when trust is broken inside a system meant to support young people.
