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	Perv Minister Found Guilty 'Abused His Position,' Judge Says By Sam Pazzano Toronto Sun February 14, 2009 http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/02/14/8390076-sun.html A retired United Church minister who abused his position of trust by having a long-term sexual relationship with a parishioner was found guilty yesterday of sexual assault. Superior Court Justice Elizabeth Stewart said Rev. William Major "intentionally abused his position" as the now 54-year-old woman's counsellor when he engaged her in acts of masturbation, oral sex, fondling and one instance of intercourse. Major committed these sexual acts during counselling sessions designed to deal with her childhood sexual abuse between Jan. 1, 1996 and Dec. 20, 2005. The judge will sentence Major on April 27. Stewart said she didn't believe the 65-year-old Major's testimony of a mutual love affair, rejecting his account as "self-serving and unreliable." "He attempted to portray (the victim) as a sexual aggressor" and himself as a "hapless man who eventually succumbed to her insistent affections," Stewart said. Major exploited "these counselling sessions to pursue his self-centred objectives. I don't believe she consented," the judge said. Major "selfishly refused to accept blame for his blameworthy conduct," Stewart found. She said this was not a love affair springing from his naivete as he testified. He exploited an emotionally and psychologically vulnerable woman looking for guidance from a minister, the judge noted. Stewart said the woman was raised in a "staunchly Roman Catholic family" where priests and ministers were revered as "next to God." The woman, who was then 42 years old, was suffering from a major depression and contemplated suicide when she sought guidance from Major in 1996 when he was the minister at Manor Road United Church, Stewart said. "She called Major the answer to her prayers," Stewart said. Major's sexual activity with the victim ground to a halt in 2002 after his wife Doris "became suspicious about what was going on between Major and the victim," the judge said. Major and the woman then participated in a few years of explicit "phone sex" contact until the woman's daughter heard one of Major's graphic messages on her mom's voicemail. Major was a federal candidate for the NDP in Sudbury during the 1988 election and has worked extensively for anti-poverty groups. Contact: SAM.PAZZANO@SUNMEDIA.CA
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