Bathurst Diocese Sexual Abuse Compensation Program Cloaked in Secrecy

by John McKiggan

The Diocese of Bathurst has taken the unusual step of applying to the New Brunswick Court of Queen’s Bench for an Order sealing all information pertaining to the compensation process the Diocese of Bathurst has put in place to “help” victims of sexual abuse by priests of the Bathurst Diocese.

The Diocese also requested that the fee paid to former Supreme Court Judge Bastarache be sealed.

Former Bathurst priests Levi Noel and Charles Picot have been convicted of sexually abusing boys from various parishes in the Diocese.

The Diocese claimed that it would be at a “disadvantage” in future litigation if the amount of compensation paid to abuse victims was made public.

Given the resources the Catholic Church has to fight the claims of sexual abuse survivors, I think it is the survivors who are the ones who are at a disadvantage.

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