February 28, 2006

Church allowed accused to leave quietly

CANADA
The Vancouver Sun

Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, February 28, 2006
A B.C. man charged with indecently assaulting a mentally disabled resident at a Catholic group home in the late 1970s has continued to work with children at a Vancouver high school and churches in the U.S., despite admitting the abuse years ago.

Robert Gordon Viens, 50, was charged in May 2004 after Burnaby RCMP received complaints from two former residents of the L'Arche community in Burnaby that he had sexually assaulted them in the late 1970s. L'Arche is a residential community for mentally disabled residents that opened in 1974.

Viens, who now lives in Bellingham, faces two counts of indecent assault against a mentally disabled man, as well as one count of buggery and one of gross indecency for actions between Nov. 1, 1977, and Sept. 30, 1980.

Posted by kshaw at February 28, 2006 10:16 AM