Sex-abuse suit alleges conspiracy by Catholic Church: CBC News

Class-action suit filed against Roman Catholic diocese in N.S. over alleged abuse: The Canadian Press

Church facing class action (Suit alleges Catholic diocese failed to protect kids from abuse) : Chronicle Herald

N.S. Catholic bishop: Church open to helping sex abuse victims: Canadian Press

Class-action filed against N.S. Catholic diocese: Canwest News

N.S. Roman Catholic bishop says church open to helping sexual abuse victims: Canadian Press

Victims of priest abuse will get 'fair treatment,' diocese says: Chronicle Herald

Diocese named in sex abuse suit offers court alternative: CBC

Lawyer expects more sex abuse victims to join class action: Cape Breton Post

Plantiff says he wants to save Catholic Church: Cape Breton Post

An Interview with Ron Martin on CBC Mainstreet (Requires RealAudio player) Download file

Interview with lawyer for Antigonish Diocese on CBC radio (Requires RealAudio player) Download file

If you or a family member suffered sexual abuse by a priest that was part of the Antigonish Diocese you can contact me for further information through the contact form on this blog or by calling toll free 1-877-43-2050.

The claim is the first class action in Nova Scotia filed under the new Class Proceedings Act.

The representative plaintiff is Ronald Martin. Ron's brother of David Martin committed suicide 6 years ago. David's suicide note revealed that he had been sexually abused by Father Hugh Vincent MacDonald, a former priest of the Antigonish Diocese.

A criminal investigation by the RCMP and the Cape Breton Regional Police lead to charges of rape, buggery and indecent assault against Hugh Vincent MacDonald involving more than 15 children in incidents spanning the 1960's and 1970's.

Several priests from the Antigonish Diocese have been previously convicted of sexually abusing children from the Diocese including Clair Richard, Claude Richard, and James Mombourquette.

Ronald Martin has written an open letter to other survivors of sexual abuse by priests from the Antigonish Diocese.

In the letter, Ron Martin explains why he was motivated to file the class action:

The only thing that I had asked for was an acceptance of responsibility for what happened to David, to us, and all the others who had been abused by a representative of the church.

The class action claims that the Roman Catholic Church, the Bishop of Antigonish and the R.C. Diocese of Antigonish sent priests from the Diocese for treatment for "sexual deviations". The class action claims that the Defendants, following the instructions of the Pope, kept the priests' sexual deviance secret and failed to warn or protect children within the Diocese.

If you or a family member have been a victim of sexual abuse by a priest from the Antigonish Diocese you can contact me for more information through this blog, or by calling toll free 1-877-423-2050.

The Vatican eventually found Maciel Degollado guilty of multiple acts of sexual abuse spanning decades. His punishment? His public ministry was restricted.

The documentary also examines the role of the last two Popes in covering up allegations of sexual abuse against Maciel Degollado and the extent to which the Vatican went to protect a serial predator.

You can read more stories about Maciel Degollado here.

The Catholic Church has been dealing with an epidemic of sexual abuse claims that have come to light over the past decade in the United states and here in Canada.

I have posted about research which suggests one reason why the Catholic Church has had such difficulty coming to terms with the reality of sexual abuse by it's priests: Do Myths About Child Abuse Explain The Church Sex Abuse Scandals?

Some pople have even suggested that the institutional structure of the Catholic Church may play a role in creating sexual abusers: Does the Catholic Church attract sexual abusers…or create them?

What do you think?

The Globe and Mail reported that Vancouver lawyer, Terry Robertson says that:

"The law says it is an offence for a person in a position of authority over another to sexually touch someone if they are under 18,"

Women who have left the community of Bountiful have said that girls as young as 14 have been married to men more than 20 years older, who are elders in the religious community.

Robertson also intends to look at whether the law against polygamy breaches the freedom-of-religion provision of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

I posted almost a year ago that the BC government had decided not to lay criminal charges over the polygamy in Bountiful: B.C. will not charge Polygamists with Child Sexual Abuse

At that time the prosecutor refused to lay charges on the basis that the children had "consented" to the marriages and were therefore not sexual assaults under the law.

Given the control that some religious leaders can have over the members of their communities (and I am not just talking about the Church of Latter Day Saints) , isn't it a bit naive to just assume that a child's "consent" is genuine? Is it not possible that the "consent" was coerced?

What do you think?

I was honoured to be invited by Nora's family to join the gathering.

Nora Bernard came to me 13 years ago to ask for help. She wanted to file a claim for compensation for all of the former residents of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School for loss of their language and culture.

I told her that what she wanted to do had never been done before. She asked: "So does that mean it can't be done?"

Nora invited me to her home to hear her story, and the stories of other students from the Shubenacadie school. They convinced me that what happened to these children was incredibly wrong.

Nora Bernard filed the first class action against the federal government on behalf of survivors of a residential school, seeking compensation for loss of language and culture.

After Nora Bernard and the Shubenacadie survivors filed her claim, other survivors from other schools in other provinces filed similar class actions.

Nora was a lady of incredible warmth, strength and persistence.

She worked tirelessly for the Shubenacadie survivors, sometimes at the risk of her own health. She travelled across the country on behalf of survivors and I travelled with her to Ottawa where she testified before a Commons committee about the physical and sexual abuses that took place in the schools.

Eventually survivors across Canada began working together. In November 2005 former residential school survivors and Canada and the churches that ran the schools reached an Agreement in principle to settle the largest class action in Canadian history.

Nora never cared about money for herself. Her only concern was justice for her fellow survivors. She told me many times over the years that the most important part of any settlement had to be an apology to survivors.

Today residential school survivors heard the apology that they had been waiting for. I am honoured to have been invited to play a small part in this historic process. My only regret was that Nora was not with us today to hear the apology.

But I know she was watching...and smiling.

In an historic moment, he apologized on behalf of all Canadians for the destruction wrought by Canada's policy of forced assimilation. CBC has extensive coverage of the apology and the history of the schools.

Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.

These objectives were based on the assumption aboriginal cultures and spiritual beliefs were inferior and unequal. indeed, some sought, as it was infamously said, “to kill the Indian in the child.” Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country.

The Prime Minister recognized the abuse that many children were subjected to in the schools:

While some former students have spoken positively about their experiences at residential schools – these stories are far overshadowed by tragic accounts of the emotional, physical and sexual abuse and neglect of helpless children and their separation from powerless families and communities.

Many survivors have waited decades to hear the words:

Therefore, on behalf of the government of Canada and all Canadians, I stand before you, in this chamber so central to our life as a country, to apologize to aboriginal peoples for Canada's role in the Indian residential schools system.

You can read the whole text of the apology here.

Today was an emotional day for the survivors of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, whom I have had the privilege of representing for the last 13 years. My only regret was that my friend Nora Bernard was not with us today to hear the apology.

But I know she was watching...and smiling.

The Bishop is not facing criminal charges, nor is he being sued in civil court. The trial is taking place under the rules of canon (church) law. A panel of 5 bishops, 2 clergy and 2 lay members will decide whether Bennsion violated church rules Title IV of the Canons of the Episcopal Church by failing to disclose that his brother, John Bennison was having sexual relations with an underage female parishioner.

The Philidelphia Bulletin has reported that :

The bishop's younger brother John allegedly had illicit sex with a girl beginning in 1971 when she was a 14-year-old member of St. Mark's Church in Upland, Calif., and he was a 24-year-old seminary student. The sexual relationship lasted until 1974, the year she departed for college.

The first day of the "trial" heard graphic testimony from the victim, who said:

...Bishop Bennison stumbled in on his brother John's sexual activity with her, "saw his erection", turned on his heel in the church office and walked away.

If Bishop Bennison is found guilty of violating Church rules, he will not face criminal charges, but the panel could remove him as Bishop of the Diocese.

The trial continues this week.

UPDATE JUNE 27, 2008

Bishop Bennison has been convicted of concealing his brother's sexual abuse.

This case is only the third time in 232 years that a Bishop has been put on trial by the Episcopal Church USA.

You can read more here.

In a stinging indictment of the police that investigated the crimes, the Court unanimously ruled that police "knowingly and deliberately" used information that had been illegally obtained in order to obtain the confessions.

The Globe and Mail has reported that police in Kamloops interrogated Dieter Helmut Wittwer three times. Each time he confessed to sexually assaulting 3 girls between the ages of five and six years old.

But the first time police had failed to advise Wittwer of his right to counsel. The second time they interrogated him, police advised Wittwer of his right to counsel, but failed to give him the opportunity to call a lawyer.

After being told by a Crown prosecutor that the first two confessions were probably inadmissible the police tried a third time.

Wittwer confessed again! But only AFTER being confronted with his previous, unlawfully obtained, confessions.

Justice Fish, writing for the unanimous court stated that the police conduct was:

"...sufficient to taint the subsequent statement and to cry out for its exclusion ... To hold otherwise is to invite the perception that the police are legally entitled to reap the benefit of their own infringements of a suspect's constitutional rights. And this, in my view, would bring the administration of justice into disrepute."

Some people may be outraged that a sexual abuser who confessed THREE TIMES will have his conviction overturned.

But I am more outraged by the incompetence of the police that investigated these charges. Three young girls were sexually abused and the pedophile that assaulted them now has another chance at being found not guilty, because the police did not respect the rules.

What do you think?

You can read the entire decision here.

I posted about the story last week Priest Sex Abuser Appeals Conviction: Denies Existence of Repressed Memory .

Today I read an interesting post by Tim Lytton on the PrawfsBlawg about the issue. He makes the point that the media attention surrounding the various priest sexual abuse scandals has perhaps over estimated the incidence of repressed memory in historical sexual abuse cases.

Lytton points out that:

First, since claiming recovered memory is one way to overcome statute of limitations problems, clergy sexual abuse litigation makes the frequency of recovered memory among victims appear to be greater than it actually is. Second, most plaintiffs seeking to avoid dismissal of their claims under the statute of limitations do not allege recovered memory but rather delayed discovery of injury--claiming that, although they never forgot the abuse, they did not identify the damage that it caused or they did not attribute that damage to the abuse. Third, most lawsuits and prosecutions for clergy sexual abuse are supported by independent evidence of guilt.

I couldn't agree more.

I have represented hundreds of victims of historical sexual abuse and in not one of them did my client, claim to have "repressed" the memory of the abuse.

In most cases the victim was aware of the fact of the abuse, but did not realize that their ongoing psychological problems were a product of their childhood.

Furthermore, in almost every single case we have been able to find independent evidence to corroborate my clients claims.

So perhaps the furor over repressed memory has been caused, in part, by the media. What do you think?

CTV news has reported that 84 year old Amsey Bearinger is currently serving a two year sentence after being convicted of sexually abusing 17 children over two decades.

Bearinger, an Elder in the Mennonite Church, has been ordered to pay compensation to a man who was just 8 years old when Bearinger began to sexually assault him.

The amount of the settlement is confidential. You can watch a video of the news story here.

The Court of Appeal confirmed that the province is vicariously liable (legally responsible) for the negligence of a probation officer who allowed a convicted sex offender on parole to live with a family with two young children.

You can read the full decision here.

JH was sexually assaulted by Kline, who was on probation for sexual offences against boys. He was on parole and under an order not to have unsupervised contact with children.

Despite the terms of the probation order, Kline's probation officer gave him permission to live in a suite in the same house as JH, and his sister and mother.

Kline became friendly with JH's mother, DH (a single mom). He actually TOLD her that he was not allowed to have contact with children under the age of 18. (Although he told her it was because he had been convicted of having sex with a 17 year old prostitute).

When the probation officer learned that Kline was living in the same house as two young children, he warned the mother DH not to allow Kline to be alone with her children but he did not tell her that Kline had been convicted of assaulting young boys.

DH lied to the probation officer and said that Kline had no contact with her children.

In fact, Kline spent lots of time with JH, babysitting him, watching movies, teaching him how to fish and ride a bike. He sexually assaulted JH over a nine month period.

The trial judge found that the probation officer was negligent and held the Province of British Columbia vicariously liable for his negligent acts. The trial judge also found the mother, DH 5% responsible for leaving JH with Kline when she had been warned not to do so.

The province appealed the finding of vicarious liability. DH appealed the finding that she was partly responsible.

The Court of Appeal confirmed the finding of the probation officer's negligence:

The probation officer was clothed with the responsibility to approve the residence of Mr. Kline, and was the only reliable channel of information to residents living near Mr. Kline as to the danger he posed, and to whom.

The province argued that it should be immune from vicarious liability because:

...the decisions or actions in issue in this case were taken in the exercise of public discretion and therefore a duty of care should not extend to such discretionary decisions for reasons of public policy.

The Court of Appeal rejected the argument:

...the probation officer’s task was management of the parameters already put in place by the sentencing judge. As such, I do not view Mr. Gill’s function in relation to J.H. as reaching the high policy level contemplated by the authorities as required before immunity from liability is assured at this stage of the analysis.

The Court overturned the trial judge's ruling that DH was only 5% responsible, finding instead that DH was equally to blame for the sexual assaults and split liability (fault) 50-50 between DH and the province.

...D.H. contends that she is not at all at fault. I do not agree. D.H. was advised of the term of the probation order. Although she chose not to comply with it on the basis she did not know the underlying offence was a sexual assault against a person of her son’s profile, that is not an answer to her election to permit her children to be with Mr. Kline contrary to that order. Nor does she have a good answer to the falsehood told to the probation officers that Mr. Kline did not have contact with her children.

Some people may have a problem with holding a mother responsible for the sexual assaults of a convicted sex offender. Hasn't the family suffered enough?

I have to say I agree with the balancing act by the Court of Appeal in this case. The mother was told that Kline wasn't supposed to have contact with children. She knew he had been convicted of sexual assault. Frankly, what parent in their right mind would allow a convicted sex offender to be alone with their children?!

Shanley claims that his lawyer at his trial did not do a good enough job challenging the admissibility of the victim’s “repressed memories” of the childhood sexual abuse.

The District Attorney who prosecuted Shanley, Gerry Leone was quoted as saying:

"The concept of recovered memory by victims of abuse has been accepted by both the scientific and legal communities, as well as the jury who convicted Mr. Shanley after hearing the full evidence in this case," Leone said. "We remain confident in the jury's verdict."

Repressed Memory: What is it?

It is common for us to consciously repress unpleasant memories. In other words, we know what happened, but we chose not to think about it.

Repressed memory is the memory of a traumatic event that has been unconsciously repressed. In other words, the victim of a traumatic event has no conscious memory of a traumatic event because his or her subconscious has repressed the memory. Repressed memories can be recalled after being triggered, usually by another traumatic event.

Does Repressed Memory Exist?

There is mixed scientific opinion about whether repressed memory really exists. Some professionals deny the existence of repressed memories. Some are sceptical despite peer-reviewed studies and clinical studies that continue to document the phenomenon.

So What's the Answer?

The reality is that the validity of repressed memories may have a great to do with the way in which the memories were recovered. You can read an interesting examination of the issue from the University of Washington: The Reality of Repressed Memories.

I have been representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse for more than 15 years. I have no doubt that traumatic memories of something as horrifying as childhood sexual abuse can be repressed by the unconscious mind as a protection mechanism.

That is not to say that I think all repressed memories are true. But in my experience a careful examination of all the facts surrounding each particular case usually provides evidence to corroborate the accuracy of most victims’ repressed memories.

What do you think? Have you ever experienced the recovery of a repressed memory? Do you think repressed memories even exist?

...it is impossible to know how large the problem of sexual predators in schools is, but there is, definitely, a problem. A 2001-2005 investigation in the U.S. last year by Associated Press found more than 2,500 cases of teachers who were either sanctioned by their schools or, in half the cases, convicted of a crime of sexual misconduct.

The authors conclude:

The seriousness of child sexual abuse cannot be overstated. Victims talk of lives ruined. They are unable to work, form relationships, enjoy friendships or accomplish what they hoped to in life.

The justice system seems to be the one realistic hope of putting an end to a predator's career.

I couldn't agree more. I have been representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse for more than 15 years. Criminal charges provide the justice system with a chance to punish sexual predators. Civil claims for sexual abuse hold the institutions that allow sexual deviants to prey on child accountible for the lives destroyed by sexual abuse.

If you have been a victim of childhood sexual abuse you can contact me for a free report about childhood sexual abuse claims and a manual of Atlantic Canadian resources for survivors of sexual abuse.

Tremblay was a priest at Sainte-Martine for more than 20 years. He is charged with sexual molestation, indecent exposure and indecency on a person over whom he had authority.

The acts allegedly took place over a 40-year-period, between 1968 and 2007.

Although she did not live to see it, I think my friend Nora Bernard would be pleased.

A Tribute to Nora Bernard

September 22, 1935- December 27, 2007

Nora was born, September 22, 1935, to the late Mary (Cope) and Michael Bernard. Her place of birth was the Mi'kmaq First Nation Community of Millbrook. She is survived by her six children, thirteen grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and four of her seven siblings, an uncle, and hundreds of other relatives.

I first met Nora in 1995. She came to me and asked for help her with a claim on behalf of all of the former students of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School. What Nora wanted to do had never been done before.

She felt that Indian Residential School System was wrong and that every child that had ever been forced to attend the Shubenacadie Residential School was entitled to be compensated for their experience. She wanted justice for the Survivors of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School. She wanted to file a claim against the Government of Canada and the Roman Catholic Church and she asked me to help her. After hearing Nora's story and the stories of many of the other Shubenacadie survivors I agreed to help Nora with her goal.

Nora filed the first Class Action law suit against the government of Canada seeking compensation for Residential School Survivors. After Nora filed her claim other survivors from other schools in other provinces filed similar law suits. Eventually these claims joined together and the end result was the National Class Action Settlement, the largest class action settlement in Canadian history which will pay compensation to up to 70,000 former Residential School residents.

It took Nora twelve years to achieve her goal. It was not an easy fight and her role representing survivors often took a toll on her health. Sometimes it looked like the fight for survivors couldn't be won. But Nora never gave up hope and never stopped working for the Shubenacadie Survivors.

Nora was an incredible woman. She was a kind and gentle person. She had a giving heart and a great deal inner strength.

Nora's death was tragic and unfair. However, I take satisfaction in knowing that Nora was able to see the conclusion of the Class Action Law Suit on behalf of her fellow survivors before her untimely death.

Whenever Nora asked me to speak to survivors at the meetings that she organized she would say to me: "John, don't speak to the people like a lawyer. Speak to them like a friend."

I am proud and honoured to have called Nora my friend. I will miss her terribly.

May she rest in peace.

More about Nora Bernard:

Heart of a Soldier, Soul of an Angel

Nora Bernard Played Key Role in Multibillion-dollar Native-school Settlement

Bernard's Lawsuit Helped Natives Nationwide