Taxi driver for 9-year-old Niagara student jailed on child-sex offences

A former teacher who was employed as a taxi driver transporting a nine-year-old girl to and from school has been sentenced to more than 10 years behind bars on multiple child-sex offences.

The circumstances of the offences are starkly horrific," Judge George Gage said in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines Wednesday.

They embody the worst nightmare of any parent."

Jamie Woods was sentenced to 11 years in custody for sex-related charges dating back to 2016. Based on the time he had spent in presentence custody, the St. Catharines man had his sentence reduced to 10 years and 312 days.

Woods, 56, was previously employed as a teacher and taught grades 1 through 3 at a private school.

In 2016, he worked as a taxi driver in Niagara.

One of his clients was a nine-year-old girl who had recently transferred to a new school due to the fact she had been bullied at her previous school.

The transfer to the new school was supposed to be a safe haven for (the victim)," the judge said. Instead, because of what was happening in transit to and from the school, it became her nightmare."

Between April and June 2016, the defendant drove the child on 32 occasions.

He bought her candy and would encourage her to give him a kiss when she left the cab.

During four of those rides, court heard, the man subjected the child to horrific sexual abuse.

In one incident, he drove her to a deserted parking lot and told her to get in the back seat and remove her clothing.

When she resisted, he produced a knife and threatened to cut her up" if she didn't comply and showed her garbage bags he kept in the glove box, which he said he would use to dispose of her dead body.

The parents trusted the safe transportation of their child by Jamie Woods," the judge said. (The victim) expected to be delivered to her new school without being molested and attacked.

The display of the knife and garbage bags and subsequent threats to use the weapon would be utterly terrifying to any vulnerable victim, especially to a defenceless nine-year-old."

The victim, now 16, said Woods robbed her of her innocence.

I feel like I'm on a roller-coaster blindfolded with heavy weights tied to my feet," she told the judge in her victim impact statement. This crime has literally torn my soul, and my family's, to pieces.

The surreal numbness that I face every day is crippling. The trauma this has caused is debilitating."

She is afraid to meet new people and the thought of intimacy is crippling. She is unable to tolerate a full school day. She struggles with suicidal thoughts.

It feels so dark inside me," the teen said. It can be hard ignoring those heavy, dark emotions that are screaming inside of you. It's honestly exhausting."

The victim's mother described how the heinous crimes have changed the course of her daughter's life.

This crime has hurt her physically, emotionally, mentally and changed the course of her life, took away her childhood and is crippling her from living her teenage years."

She described her daughter as a confident child full of wonder who brought joy wherever she went."

She had the most beautiful smile and joie de vivre."

After a few months of taking the taxi, the child she knew was gone.

No other little human deserves what was done to my beautiful little girl," she said.

The victim's grandmother said the offender demonstrated a total disregard for the intrinsic values of decency and dignity."

Cruelty has no place with our most precious children," she said. They need to be protected from such heartless beings."

A number of letters of reference submitted to the court on behalf of the offender described Woods as being friendly, gentle, respectful and kind."

He taught Sunday school at his church and volunteered with Scouts Canada.

A former student at the unnamed private school testified during the three-day trial.

The now-15-year-old said Woods often brought treats for her and other female students and encouraged them to sit on his lap.

He did not treat male students in a similar fashion.

Comments the defendant made to the author of a presentence report, the judge noted, demonstrates a lack of insight into his behaviour and a troublesome attempt to blame the victim."

That suggests that the prospect of rehabilitation of this offender are, at best, problematic," Gage added.

The offender's name will appear on the national sex offender registry for life.

Alison Langley is a St. Catharines-based reporter for the Niagara Falls Review. Reach her via email: alison.langley@niagaradailies.com