Sex-accused teacher gets bail for holiday

MONTREAL, Feb. 29 (UPI) -- A Montreal-area elementary school teacher accused of sexually assaulting 19 girls was granted bail so he can travel for spring break next week, a report said.

Gym teacher Henri Fournier, 54, was arrested Feb. 22, a week after the parents of two girls called police with the allegations. Within days, former and current students came forward with similar claims of sexual touching at the school in Chateauguay, south of Montreal, The Gazette reported Friday.

In seeking bail Thursday, Fournier's 25-year-old son, wife and a former administrator at the Ecole Notre Dame de l'Assomption testified on his behalf. Quebec Court Judge Robert Lafontaine then ruled Fournier was not a flight risk and said an accused is presumed innocent and has rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He ordered Fournier to post $5,000 bail and cleared him to take a trip he had booked to Venezuela next week. But the judge imposed conditions, one that Fournier could not be in the presence of minors unless accompanied by another adult, another that he could take no job involving minors and that he must stay clear of the school.

Fournier was suspended from his job with pay last week, his lawyer said.