The Banned Teacher

As a teen, Anne-Marie Robinson dreamed of becoming a professional musician. The talented French horn player soon became the music teacher’s favourite. But it wasn’t the kind of attention she wanted. On a band trip, he bought the kids alcohol and she ended up in his hotel bed. Decades later, she ran into him. It was like seeing a ghost.

Robinson stored her painful, high-school memories deep in her mind. But it all came flooding back in midlife after she saw the music teacher. She decided to confront him. That meeting led Robinson on a journey to discover what really happened and report it to police.

More than a year after Robinson went to police, William Douglas Walker was charged with a sex crime. She alleged he groomed and controlled her when she was 16. After four and half years in court, a judge said there wasn’t enough proof she hadn’t consented to sex. The case was dismissed.

Robinson couldn’t help but think if she knew there were other victims, the outcome of the case would have been different. The investigation finds another survivor, Robinson reaches out and gets a response right away: “Hello Powerful Woman.” She finally meets the woman who got the teacher banned.

The desk in Jeanie McKay’s teenage bedroom had 56 notches: one for every time she had sexual intercourse with her music teacher. It would become evidence years later, when Walker was found guilty of professional misconduct and banned from teaching. During his statement, he referred to his former student as a “blip.”