Matthew Porcher, a former youth support worker at two youth homes in the West Shore, has been sentenced to two-years-minus-one-day imprisonment, including time served, for inappropriately touching a 14-year-old in his care.
At the Victoria courthouse on Thursday, March 6, Justice Gareth Morley handed down the sentence for his conviction of touching for a sexual purpose of a person under 16.
"His sentence must be proportionate to the gravity of the offence that reflects both the profound immorality and long-term, lasting harm of sexual violence against children," said Morley during his reasoning for the decision.
His sentence also includes three years' probation and conditions preventing him from working with and being around children under 16.
While working at the home, Porcher, now 23, would play video games with the boy – whose name is protected by a publication ban – and they developed a close relationship. It involved multiple policy breaches on Porcher's part including staying later than he was supposed to, talking to the boy on private social media accounts, and "roughhousing" while the boy was shirtless.
While Porcher thought the youth was sleeping on April 24, 2022, he touched the complainant’s testicles, penis and buttocks, though the teen was actually "awake and terrified" according to Morley.
According to Morley, the teen says he "suffers from a low mood, his happiness has gone and he does not laugh as often as he did before the assault. He says he cannot stop thinking about the incident and that this has impacted his ability to sleep and his self-esteem."
The teen had also developed an alcohol dependence, and has since gotten in trouble with the justice system, which Morley said "significantly impacted his life."
"The incident has made him fearful and distrustful of people generally, and authoritarian figures in particular. He says he finds it hard to trust new people," said Morley.
Counting his time served, Porcher will serve an additional 570 days in prison and is expected to be released in September 2026.
