Sexual abuse in St. John's archdiocese

Several cases of sexual abuse in St. John's archdiocese have been reported, starting in 1988. It is an important chapter in the series of clerical abuse affairs that occurred in the dioceses of Canada.

James Hickey affair

In September 1988, Fr. James Hickey pleaded guilty to 20 charges of sexual assault, gross indecency and indecent assault involving teenage boys while he was a parish priest on the Burin Peninsula and in the St. John's area.[1] He spent five years in prison, serving his sentence at Her Majesty's Penitentiary, St. John's, and Dorchester Penitentiary, NB. Despite Hickey's criminal conviction, archdiocese leaders fought against the victims' lawsuits demanding damages for over 20 years.[2]

Hickey, the first priest convicted in a sexual-abuse scandal, died in 1992.

In February 2009, the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador ruled that the Archdiocese of St. John's was "vicariously liable" for the sexual abuse of eight former altar boys by Hickey.[3]

Mount Cashel orphanage scandal

In 1988, a scandal erupted over allegations of widespread abuse of children at Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland.[4][5][6][7] From 1989 to 1993, nine Christian Brothers were charged and prosecuted for various criminal offences including sex offences against the boys of Mount Cashel orphanage.[8][9][10][11] The religious order that ran the orphanage filed for bankruptcy in the face of numerous lawsuits. Since the Mount Cashel scandal erupted, a number of priests across the country have been accused of sexual abuse.[12]

In July 2020, the Court of Appeal for Newfoundland and Labrador unanimously reversed a 2018 Canadian Supreme ruling and ruled that the Archdiocese of St. John's was liable for the sexual abuse committed at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in the 1950s and 1960s.[13]

In July 2021, the Archdiocese of St. John's announced plans to sell off assets in order to compensate victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal.[14]

Hughes Inquiry

The Hughes Inquiry was a Canadian royal commission which concluded that officials had transferred offenders and covered up the sexual abuse at Mount Cashel. It recommended that victims be compensated.[15] The commission began inquiry investigations on 1 June 1989 and published its report in April 1992.

Resignation of bishop Penney

The Winter Commission was appointed in 1989 by Archbishop Alphonsus Penney and released its report during the following year. Its final report, submitted in 1990, was entitled The report of the Archdiocesan Commission of Enquiry into the Sexual Abuse of Children by Members of the Clergy.[16]

Archbishop Penney resigned on February 2, 1991, following the release of the commission's report, which placed some of the blame for cover-ups of the abuse on him.[17][18]

Allegations against bishop Lahey

In 1989, Fr. Kevin Molloy went to former St. John's archbishop Alphonsus Liguori Penney to report that a child had seen pornography at the home of a priest Raymond Lahey.[19][20] These allegations were recounted in 2009 when Bishop Lahey was subsequently arrested for separate allegations involving illicit pornography (see: sexual abuse scandal in Antigonish diocese).[21][22]

1992 guidelines from the CCCB

In 1992, the Canadian Catholic bishops responded by unveiling guidelines, calling for fairness and openness to all allegations, stressing the need to "respect" the jurisdiction of outside authorities, and recommending counselling and compassion for the victims. However, some assert that, the bishops' guidelines notwithstanding, the sexual abuse problems have not been adequately addressed.[23]

2004 Supreme Court decision

In 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada in Doe v Bennett, upheld the lower court's decision that the ecclesiastical corporation, Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. George's in Western Newfoundland, was vicariously liable (as well as directly liable) for sexual abuse by Father Kevin Bennett.[24]

Rev. Peter Power controversy

In July 2020, Rev. Peter Power, who was originally from the Archdiocese of Toronto, was charged with charges of sexual touching, sexual assault and committing an indecent act involving two teenaged boys, aged 18 and 16 years old at a residence in a small Newfoundland community earlier in the year.[25] Though officially retired, Power was still occasionally active in Catholic ministry when he relocated to Newfoundland.[25]

In February 2021, a British Columbia man alleged that he was sexually abused by one of the Christian Brother's, who confessed to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary of molesting children at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in 1975.[26]

In August 2022, a British Columbia man, known only as 'John B. Doe,' filed a class action lawsuit in British Columbia, alleging that he was physically and sexually abused while attending Vancouver College, a preparatory Catholic School for boys located in the Shaughnessy neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. The lawsuit alleges that six Christian Brothers working as teachers at the school, were known to have committed crimes, (in some cases admitted to crimes) against children in NL, before being transferred to Vancouver to teach at Vancouver College.[27]

In September 2022, police in Burnaby, BC, acknowledged that they had an active investigation in relation to a complaint against a former NL Christian Brother, who was transferred from the Mount Cashel Orphanage subsequent to allegations of child molestation, to St. Thomas More Collegiate, a private school ran by the congregation of Christian Brothers. The complainant, John A. Doe, is accusing former Christian Brother Edward English of abuse allegations during his time at the private college. John A. Doe, questions how Brother English was allowed to quietly be transferred from NL to BC, without charges, after admitting to molesting children to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, in 1975.[28]

See also

References
  2. "Catholic Church Liable for Sexual Abuse of Altar Boys: St. John's, Newfoundland". 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  3. "Catholic Church Liable for Sexual Abuse of Altar Boys: St. John's, Newfoundland". 16 February 2009.
  4. Gullage, Peter (February 17, 2019). "Mount Cashel: After 30 years, the pain still has not gone away". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  5. Bartlett, Jeff (January 13, 2018). "Abuse settlement brings dark memories — and hope — for journalist who covered Mount Cashel scandal". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  6. CBC News, NL (September 19, 2007). "Whistleblower in Elizabeth Towers scandal dies at 69". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  7. Hughes, Samuel (1992). "Mount Cashel Hughes Commission" (PDF). Report on Mount Cashel. One: 149.
  8. Government, NL (1997). "Mount Cashel Orphanage Abuse Scandal Timeline". Heritage Newfoundland and Labrdor. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  9. Government, NL (1997). "Mount Cashel Orphanage Abuse Scandal". Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  10. 15 years later, Mount Cashel cases appear to end. CBC News, Friday, May 28, 2004. Retrieved January 31, 2008. Archived February 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  11. Bill, Roger (February 23, 2019). "The pedestals were washed away: The sex abuse scandals that rocked the church in N.L." Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  12. Notorious Mount Cashel orphanage to close
  13. Whiffen, Glen (July 29, 2020). "The decision by province's Appeals Court, which reverses a 2018 Supreme Court finding, was unanimous; church has 60 days to decide if it will apply for a Supreme Court of Canada appeal". Journal Pioneer. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  14. CBC News, NL (July 26, 2021). "Catholic Church selling assets to pay Mount Cashel survivors, but lawyer says it won't be enough". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  15. The Hughes Inquiry Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Lead us not into temptation : Catholic priests and the sexual abuse of children, Jason Berry, 1992, reprinted 2000
  17. Sexual abuse by Catholic clergy : the Canadian situation
  18. Ulbrich, Jeffrey. "Archbishop offers resignation in sex abuse scandal". The Free Lance-Star, 21 July 1990, p. 13. Retrieved on 25 May 2013.
  21. Suspicion about Lahey raised 20 years ago Archived 2009-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
  23. Diocesan resources from the CCCB concerning sexual abuse
  24. [nfld-catholic-diocese-seeks-bankruptcy-protection-1.525213 ]
  25. The Canadian Press (July 21, 2020). "Retired priest from archdiocese of Toronto facing sex charges in Newfoundland". Global News. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  26. Cooke, Ryan (February 9, 2021). "Christian Brother continued abusing boys after Mount Cashel coverup, B.C. lawsuit alleges". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  27. Cooke, Ryan (August 4, 2022). "Teacher exonerated at Mount Cashel abused kids in B.C. until at least 2009, lawsuit alleges". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  28. Cooke, Ryan (September 22, 2022). "Burnaby RCMP open sexual assault investigation into notorious Christian Brother". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
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