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Vancouver College sexual abuse class action overview:
- Who: Former Christian Brother and Vancouver College teacher Joseph Burke, who was part of a group of Christian Brothers convicted of sexual assault crimes while working at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John’s, N.L. in the 1970s, has been accused of sexual assault by one of his former students.
- Why: Burke’s former student at Vancouver College claims his teacher sexually assaulted him on numerous occasions in his classroom during his Grade 8 and 9 years.
- Where: Vancouver College is located in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Former Christian Brother Joseph Burke has been accused of sexual assault by one of his former students at Vancouver College, a K-12 private school run by the Congregation of Christian Brothers.
The former student claims Burke, who had prior convictions for abusing boys at an orphanage in Newfoundland in the 1970s, sexually assaulted him numerous times from between 2007 to 2009, CBC reports.
Burke is being accused of assaulting his former student several times in his classroom during his Grade 8 and 9 years at Vancouver College, including instances where he forced him to masturbate in front of him.
In addition to Burke, the class action lawsuit names Vancouver College, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver, St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby and several other Christian Brothers, CBC reports.
Burke has reportedly not responded to the allegations at this time. The other Christian Brothers named in the complaint were also removed from the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John’s, N.L. following the infamous 1970s sexual assault scandal.
The former student argues in his sexual assault class action lawsuit that the schools and the archbishop had to have known about what happened at Mount Cashel before moving the six Christian Brothers, including Burke, to the Vancouver area, CBC reports.
Sexual assault class action alleges Burke had prior conviction for indecent assault overturned in 1996
While all six of the Christian Brothers were convicted for their crimes, Burke later had his convictions for indecent assault overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1996 on account of apparent inconsistencies in witness testimony.
Burke would later be granted an absolute discharge by a Newfoundland judge, meaning a remaining conviction for physical assault was only to stay on his criminal record for one year, CBC reports.
“Specifically, I want to understand how Joe Burke was allowed to return to a teaching position at Vancouver College after having been convicted for a criminal offence for his actions at Mount Cashel,” the former student writes in an affidavit as reported by CBC.
Burke ultimately retired from Vancouver College in 2013 after he was suspended without pay while being investigated for allegedly mistreating a student during an after school detention, CBC reports.
In March, a settlement agreement revolving around sexual abuse settlement payments with the Catholic Church in Canada allowed St. Kevin’s parish in Newfoundland to keep part of its multimillion dollar fundraiser and own its own parish hall and church
Have you been physically or sexually asssault while participating in a religious or academic youth program? You may qualify to join a free sexual abuse and assault case investigation.
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