Ex-Old Colony teacher sentenced to 5 years for raping former student

BROCKTON — Andre Arsenault, a former culinary arts teacher at Old Colony Regional Vocational High School convicted of rape, assault with intent to commit rape and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over, was sentenced in Plymouth County Superior Court on Friday.

Judge Robert Gordon sentenced Arsenault to five years in state prison for the rape charge and four to five years for the assault with intent to commit rape charge, which Arsenault will serve concurrently.

After his release from Souza Baranowski Correctional Center, a maximum security prison in Lancaster, he will be placed on probation for two years and required to wear a GPS monitor.

During this time, he is also barred from having unsupervised contact with children through employment or volunteering, must not contact the victim or anyone who witnessed during the trial and must register as a sex offender.

In an email from the District Attorney’s office, Nathan Lederman said this sentence was much shorter than what they asked for.

“We believe this sentence does not reflect the severity of the impact Arsenault’s actions had on the victim. We remain thankful to her for her brave testimony in this case,” he wrote.

Arsenailt was convicted Friday, Dec. 12 for one count of rape, one count of assault with intent to commit rape and nine counts of indecent assault and battery on person 14 or over. He groomed a former student and sexually abused her between 2021 and 2022.

He was arrested last March after an investigation by the Rochester Police Department.

In a statement released by the department, Police Chief Michael Assad said he is proud of the work both his department and the District Attorney’s office did on the case. 

“Today’s sentencing represents accountability and protection for our community. Most importantly, it affirms justice for the victim, whose courage and strength throughout this process cannot be overstated,” he wrote. 

Before the judge ruled, both parties presented their sentencing memorandums — documents outlining what sentence they are requesting and why.

Assistant District Attorney James Duffy asked Gordon for a 15-year maximum sentence to be served in state prison. He cited the violent nature of the crimes, abuse of a position of power and the number of assaults as reasons for a harsher penalty.

Defense Attorney James Morse asked the judge to reduce Arsenault’s prison sentence while increasing his probationary period. He argued this was his client’s first offence and asked the judge to consider letters of recommendation family members had submitted to the court. 

He said probation is not to be taken lightly, but would allow Arsenault to rejoin his wife and children sooner. 

Gordon said he took Arsenault’s previously clean record and the letters written on his behalf into account when deciding on a sentence. Arsenault’s wife, he said, wrote a letter appealing for “mercy” on her and her child’s behalf, but said the collateral damage of losing him while in prison was part of the price to be paid for his actions. 

The judge called Arsenault’s actions the “single most noxious” offense a teacher could commit. He said the former teacher’s grooming and abuse of a student he knew suffered from anxiety and panic attacks was particularly wrong.

Morse declined to comment on his client’s behalf.