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  Man Testifies Priest Gave Him Alcohol, Molested Him

By Harold Carmichael
North Bay Nugget
May 7, 2009

http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1556918

SEX ASSAULT TRIAL: Priest pleads not guilty charges stemming from incidents in 1970s, '80s

A 38-year-old man had to repeatedly pause to collect himself and find the words Wednesday to describe what happened to him in a priest's bed following an evening of drinking at the L'Annonciation Church rectory in the fall of 1982.

The man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, said Father Bernard Cloutier grabbed his privates.

I was on my back. I remember staring at the ceiling and remember thinking that it -- everything at that time -- all the talks we had, all the times we shared, it felt like big lies to me. He had deceived me.

He kept on telling me it was all right. He said it in French, over and over again."

The man was testifying on the third day of the Superior Court trial of Cloutier, a Roman Catholic priest, at the Sudbury Courthouse.

Cloutier, now 68, has pleaded not guilty to 16 sex charges involving alleged incidents with five young males from 1970 to 1983.

Cloutier was serving as parish priest at Paroisse Saints-Anges in North Bay when he was first charged in June 2007.

The charges include seven counts of gross indecency, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault.

The man testified he was 12 at the time of the incident. He said he and another male teen had been invited by Cloutier to go to the rectory for a pop and chip" party on a Saturday night in the fall of 1982, the term being code for involving alcohol.

After the two teens had consumed alcohol and were lying on the couch, Cloutier, who was standing behind the couch, asked them if they wanted to play Truth or Dare.

The priest then removed both of their pants and underwear, he told the court.

 
 

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