Catholic Church sex abuse class action settlement rejected

Update: 

• A $28 million settlement reached with a Catholic religious order amid child sexual abuse allegations that spanned decades has been rejected by a Quebec Superior Court judge.
• On July 4, Justice Thomas M. Davis published his decision on the case, rejecting the settlement with the Clercs de Saint-Viateur du Canada because of the high legal fees associated with the agreement, The Canadian Press reports.
• The agreement would have awarded Montreal law firm Arsenault, Dufresne and Wee, which represented the plaintiffs, more than $8 million in fees.
• Justice Davis said that while the law firm had done “remarkable work,” the fees were “excessive” and not in the interests of the more than 375 sexual abuse victims who were part of the class action.
• He has asked the parties to submit a new proposed settlement to the court. 

(June 25, 2020)

Five elderly members of the Clerics of St. Viator, a Catholic teaching order, were reportedly arrested by Quebec provincial police over child sexual abuse allegations that spanned decades.

The men, whose ages range from 78 to 88, were reportedly arrested in Joliette and face more than 30 charges, including charges of gross indecency, indecent assault and sexual assault.

They were reportedly arraigned Tuesday.

The alleged sexual assault crimes occurred from 1961 to 1989 while the men worked as educators in the Montérégie, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspé and Laurentians regions.

Fifteen victims of alleged sexual assault have reportedly made criminal complaints accusing the men of sexual abuse. All of the victims are reportedly male and say they were minors when they were assaulted.

The Clercs de Saint-Viateur du Canada congregation has been hit with a sexual abuse class action lawsuit by approximately 270 victims over allegations clerics committed sexual abuse at more than 20 institutions.

The sexual abuse class action lawsuit was initially filed in 2017, and includes sexual assaults that were alleged to have occurred as far back as the 1930s.

Lawyer Justin Wee of Arsenault Dufresne Wee is representing the victims in the sexual abuse class action lawsuit.

“Justice will follow its course, but the assailants must understand that they will never be sheltered from being accountable for their crimes,” Wee said.

After the arrests of the elderly men were made on Tuesday morning, Wee says his office has received dozens of phone calls regarding allegations of sexual abuse by members of the congregation.

“We as a society are proving that we are able to listen to the victims, which wasn’t the case 20 years ago,” Wee said.

The Criminal Code of Canada does not set a time limit by which criminal charges for sexual assault may be filed. However, civil proceedings for cases alleging sexual assault are subject to statutes of limitation.

The Quebec government has introduced legislation to abolish the statute of limitations in civil cases involving sexual assault allegations. If enacted, this legislation, known as Bill 55, would allow alleged victims whose cases were dismissed because they happened decades ago to bring their cases back to court within three years after the bill becomes law.

Bill 55 also says that legal actions against “an heir, a legatee by particular title or a successor of the author of the act or against the liquidator of the author’s succession” must be taken within three years of the alleged perpetrator’s death. Civil actions filed on behalf of a deceased victim “must be instituted within three years of the victim’s death.”

Quebecers who suffered sexual abuse by priests decades ago have sought to eliminate the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases.

Studies have shown that it can take years for victims to come forward with their accounts of sexual abuse they experienced. There may be many reasons that a sexual abuse victim does not come forward right away, including feelings of shame, guilt, or fear. Sexual abuse victims may hesitate to come forward because they fear they won’t be believed or that nothing will be done to hold the perpetrator accountable.

Quebec and Prince Edward Island are currently the only provinces that impose a statute of limitations on civil proceedings involving sexual abuse.

The opposition parties have indicated they want Bill 55 to pass quickly.

The Clerics of Saint Viator are far from the only Catholic congregation to come under fire over allegations of sexual assault in Canada. A class action lawsuit was recently authorized against the Frères du Sacré-Coeur order in Quebec over allegations of sexual abuse at 26 institutions.

According to the sexual abuse class action lawsuit, one of the victims struggled with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and alcoholism due to the abuse he suffered.

The plaintiffs are seeking $950,000 in compensatory damages per plaintiff and $15 million in punitive damages.

What do you think about members of the Clerics of St. Viator being arrested for sexual abuse allegations? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below! 

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