A former teacher has admitted to sexually assaulting five of his students. The assaults happened when he was a teacher at St. John's Cathedral Boys school in Selkirk. The school has since been closed.

It took 17 years but on Thursday Kenneth Mealey walked into Selkirk court to admit to sexually assaulting five boys during the 1982-83 school year.

Mealey plead guilty to five counts. "He's depressed about it, he's sad for what he has done and he's prepared to face the consequences. He's decided to spare the victims from having to testify," says defence lawyer Richard Wolson.

It took one of the victims until last year to come forward. He read an article about abuse and decided it was time to tell what happened to him at St. John's.

The guilty plea hasn't brought him much relief, he says, because Mealey was free to go back to his Ontario home. Mealey won't be sentenced until January.

In 1983, St. John's school administrators knew about the assault allegations but chose to fire Mealey instead of calling the authorities.

Mealey will be sentenced January 30 when he'll also plead guilty to another charge of sexually assaulting a boy in North Bay, Ontario.