Snail’s Pace
The Guardian has reported that the criminal investigation into sexual abuse allegations against PEI priest Rev. George Smith is moving slowly.
Tedious
Wants to See Justice
Bishop Richard Gagnon, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria British Columbia said he wants to “see that justice gets done” after British Columbia priest, Father Philip Jacobs was charged with sexual assault.
Jacobs served as a priest for St. Joseph the Worker in Saanich, British Columbia from 1998 to 2002.
Pope Begs Forgiveness – But Doesn’t Apologize
I posted earlier today that the Pope has begged for forgiveness from survivors of priest sexual abuse. Unfortunately, the statement did not contain an apology or any acknowlegement that the Vatican or the Catholic Church were to blame for the tidal wave of priest abuse claims that have crossed the Atlantic from North America and swept across the U.K. and Europe.
Blame Everyone – Admit Nothing
Pope “Begs” for Forgiveness
At a mass with some 15,000 priests marking the end of the Roman Catholic Church’s Year for Priests, the Pope asked for forgiveness from victims of priest sexual abuse:
“We … insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again,”
Vatican Not Responsible for Bishops Actions
The Vatican is defending a lawsuit that claims Bishops in the United States covered up allegations of sexual abuse. That’s not news. The Pope and the Roman Catholic Church have never acknowledged the responsibility the Church as an institution has to survivors of priest sexual abuse. The Catholic Church tends to fight lawsuits filed by priest abuse victims vigorously, even if the priests involved have been criminally convicted.
Blame Everyone Else
New Brunswick Priests Convicted of Sexual Abuse
Two former priests employed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst, Levi Noel and Charles Picot have been convicted of sexually assaulting children in their parishes during several decades spanning the 1950’s through to the early 1980’s.
We have been asked to help a number of survivors who have advised us they were sexually abused by Levi Noel and Charles Picot.
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of being invited to present at the Canadian Institute’s 9th Annual summit on Institutional Liability for Sexual Assault & Abuse.
The two day conference brought together plaintiff and defence counsel from across the country to discuss emerging issues in the law pertaining to liability for child abuse.
This is the third time I have been invited to speak by the Canadian Institute. I was asked to make two presentations. I presented on the use of class actions as a tool for the resolution of institutional sexual abuse claims.
Millions of Canadians know someone who has been sexually abused by a priest according to an Ipsos Reid survey released today.
2 Million Canadians Know Abuse Victims
According to study conducted for Canwest News Service, at least 2 million Canadians claim to know someone who has been sexually abused by a Catholic priest. This is an extraordinary, and disturbing, finding. Sexual abuse is a crime of secrecy. Many survivors, perhaps the majority, never tell anyone about the abuse they have suffered. If there are 2 million Canadians who claim to personally know a survivor of priest sexual abuse, then one has to be concerned that the actual number of victims is much higher.
Some of the other findings of the survey:
A recent research project conducted by The Cedar Project in British Columbia has found that aboriginal youth who have relatives who attended an Indian Residential School have higher rates of Hepatitis C infection.
A similar study had already found that children whose parents attended a Residential School were more likely to have suffered sexual abuse as children.
The Public Health Agency of Canada estimates the incidents of Hepatitis C in the general Canadian population to be 0.8% but the latest study found that the disease is 7 times more prevalent among aboriginal people than non-aboriginals.
A man who was 13 years old when he was sexually abused by former probation officer Cesar Lalo has been awarded $375,000.00 in compensation by Supreme Court of Nova Scotia Justice Heather Robertson.
Lalo has been convicted of sexually abusing 29 boys while working as a probation officer for Department of Social Services in Nova Scotia.
Justice Robertson awarded the plaintiff, identified as L.M.M., $125,000.00 for compensation for pain and suffering and an additional $250,000.00 for past and future lost income.
