Episode 10: Taking back control

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.”

Jackie Short kept detailed diaries as a teen. She knew the teacher was making sexual advances to multiple students. At the same time, he was courting another teacher who would become his wife. On a band trip to Germany, Short told an administrator what was going on at their high school.

Five alleged victims gather for the inaugural meeting of “the club no one wanted to join.” They say they were sexually harassed, exploited, assaulted or raped by Walker. One says her friend’s father punched the music teacher in the face. They want to find the man who threw the punch.

Robinson meets Sam, the man behind the punch. He said in 1975, when he found out his 16-year-old daughter had sexual encounters with her high-school music teacher, he went to the principal. When Walker moved schools, he told Robinson about the punch — it made her feel sorry for him. But now she knows what really happened.

A third alleged victim goes to the police about the music teacher, again resulting in no charge or conviction. In season one of this podcast, 10 men came forward to tell police they were sexually abused as teens by one teacher. He was led away in handcuffs and taken to prison. These women don’t understand the double standard for girls.

The former teacher offers a letter of apology that leaves the survivors angry and unsatisfied. But Robinson makes a trip back to her old high school, reclaims her power and reveals what the investigation has given her. She, along with Peter Hamer from the first season of this podcast, form an advocacy group to help protect kids.