Category: Priest Sexual Abuse

Victim of Priest Sexual Abuse Receives 1.75 Million Dollar Settlement

by John McKiggan

The Roman Catholic Diocese of London, Ontario has agreed to pay Lou-Anne Soontiens $1,745,000.00, plus legal costs to compensate her for years of sexual abuse she suffered as a child at the hands of Father Charles Sylvestre. The total value of the settlement is thought to be more than 2.2 million dollars.

Sylvestre, one of Canada’s most notorious pedophiles was convicted of sexually assaulting Sootiens.

CBC’s Fifth Estate aired a documentary about Sylvestre called “The Good Father”. As you will see from watching the documentary it is apparent that persons of authority within the Catholic Church knew about Sylvestre’s sexual abuse but did nothing to protect his victims.

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Posted in: Child Abuse, Clergy Abuse, Priest Abuse, Priest Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Uncategorized

Pope Apologizes (Sort of) for Abuse at Indian Residential Schools

by John McKiggan

Residential School Survivors Meet Pope

A group of Survivors from Canada’s Indian Residential Schools had a private audience with Pope Benedict. The delegation was led by assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine. The group also includes one of the survivors of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, Membertou Chief Terry Paul.

Pope Apologizes to Abuse Survivors

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Posted in: Clergy Abuse, Priest Abuse, Priest Sexual Abuse, Residential School Claims, Sexual Abuse, Uncategorized

Court Date Set For Sexual Abuse Class Action Against Antigonish Diocese

by John McKiggan

There have been new developments in the class action filed against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish. The class action was filed by Ron Martin on behalf of all persons who were sexually abused by priests who were members of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish.

Case Management Judge Assigned

Justice John Murphy has been assigned to case manage the class action lawsuit. Justice Murphy will be in charge of ensuring that the class action moves forward in an orderly fashion.

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Posted in: Clergy Abuse, Priest Abuse, Priest Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Uncategorized

Catholic Church Liable for Sexual Abuse of Altar Boys: St. John’s, Newfoundland

by John McKiggan

Last week the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ruled that the Roman Catholic Church in St. John’s was responsible for the sexual abuse of eight former altar boys by disgraced priest, Reverend James Hickey.

Priest Convicted of Abusing Alter Boys

Hickey was criminally charged ten years ago with sexually abusing the boys while he was a parish priest on the Burin Peninsula. He was convicted and spent five years in prison.

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Posted in: Child Abuse, Clergy Abuse, Priest Abuse, Priest Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Uncategorized

Nora Bernard Honoured for Work on Behalf of Residential School Abuse Survivors: C.T.V. Documentary

by John McKiggan

C.T.V.’s Native Affairs program First Story has aired a documentary on the life of Nora Bernard.

I was pleased to have participated in the documentary honouring my friend and client, Nora Bernard.

First Story takes a retrospective look at Nora’s fight for compensation for survivors against the Government of Canada and the Catholic Church on behalf of former residential school students across Canada and the legacy she left for Residential School Survivors across Canada.

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Posted in: Clergy Abuse, Priest Abuse, Priest Sexual Abuse, Residential School Claims, Uncategorized

Vatican Can Be Sued For Priest Sexual Abuse: U.S. Court of Appeals

by John McKiggan

In a landmark ruling, the Court of Appeals in Cincinnati has allowed a lawsuit over alleged sexual abuse by Catholic priests to proceed against the Vatican.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that lawyers for the Vatican tried to strike out the plaintiffs’ lawsuits under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a U.S. federal law that governs when a foreign Country can be sued. The U.S. law contains a number of restrictions that limit the ability to sue a foreign state.

The Cincinnati Court of Appeals confirmed that the Vatican is a foreign state, and therefore eligible for sovereign immunity. However, the court determined that the plaintiffs were able to continue their lawsuit under an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act which allows lawsuits for damages caused by “tortious acts” of a foreign State.

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Posted in: Clergy Abuse, Priest Abuse, Priest Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Uncategorized

Vatican Issues Guidelines for Psychological Screening of Priests: What took so long?

by John McKiggan

The Vatican has issued guidelines for psychological screening of new priests. The Associated Press has reported that the guidelines were issued in response to sexual abuse scandals that have cost the Roman Catholic Church hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements for victims of sexual abuse.

Weeding Out Psychopaths

According to AP, the guidelines are supposed to help church leaders weed out candidates with “psychopathic disturbances.”

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Posted in: Child Abuse, Clergy Abuse, Priest Abuse, Priest Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Uncategorized

Supreme Court of Canada Clarifies Burden of Proof for Sexual Abuse Victims

by John McKiggan

Yesterday the Supreme Court of Canada restored a finding of civil liability for sexual assaults committed by an Oblate Brother against a former Indian Residential School Student decades ago and confirmed the burden of proof that victims of historical sexual assaults must meet if they pursue civil claim for compensation.

In F.H. v. McDougall the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a finding of civil liability against Ian Hugh McDougall, a former teacher at the Meares Island Indian Residential school. McDougall was originally found liable in B.C. Supreme Court, but the judgment was overturned by the B.C. Court of Appeal.

The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that the testimony of adult victims about sexual assaults that happened during childhood require independent corroboration.
“[t]o choose one over the other . . . requires . . . an articulated reason founded in evidence other than that of the plaintiff”
The judgment of the Supreme Court of Canada was delivered by Rothstein J. He considered whether there was a shifting burden of proof in Canada or if allegations of criminal misconduct should carry a higher burden of proof similar to the burden in criminal prosecutions.

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Posted in: Child Abuse, Clergy Abuse, Priest Abuse, Priest Sexual Abuse, Residential School Claims, Sexual Abuse, Uncategorized

Perry Dunlop still in Jail: Bishop who Hired Abusive Priests Free

by John McKiggan

Perry Dunlop, a former Cornwall Ontario police officer whose investigation launched a huge criminal investigation in the 1990s is still in jail.

Contempt of Court

Dunlop refused to testify before the Cornwall public inquiry and was sentenced to 6 months in jail. Yesterday he was sentenced to another 30 days in jail for a criminal conviction of contempt of court.

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Posted in: Clergy Abuse, Priest Abuse, Priest Sexual Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Uncategorized
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