CANADA
London Free Press
CP 2005-07-21 01:16:24
SUDBURY -- A London man told a news conference yesterday how he was allegedly controlled, brutalized and raped by a priest when he was a boy in the northeastern Ontario town of Warren.
"I'm not lying down any more in bed saying I want to die," Robert Berube said of his determination to heal, hold the church accountable and help other victims.
Father Jean-Claude Etienne has been dead for nearly eight years, but the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie could still end up paying for his alleged sexual abuse and assault of Berube more than 30 years ago.
London-based law firm Ledroit Beckett has filed a statement of claim seeking $3.1 million in damages as compensation for the suffering Etienne allegedly inflicted on Berube.
The diocese has not yet filed a statement of defence in the case.