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	Witness Says Priest Fondled Him at Campground By Bob Vaillancourt Sault Star May 8, 2009 http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1559313 Father Bernard cloutier was a "trusted" friend when the roman catholic priest molested him in 1971, a man told a Sudbury court monday R. L., as the courts have referred to him, is one of five people who have filed sexual assault complaints against cloutier. He said the priest had offered to massage an aching foot. However, the massage led to cloutier fondling him, he testified. R. L., whose name cannot be published because of a court order, said the incident took place at the Windy lake Provincial Park during a long weekend in the summer of 1971. Cloutier has pleaded not guilty to 16 sex charges laid against him over alleged incidents involving the five males from 1970 to 1983. The charges include seven counts of gross indecency, seven counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault. The trial, before Superior court Justice Paul Kane, is expected to take two weeks. The first victim told the court he and a friend had arranged a ride to the park with cloutier, who dropped the boys off, but said he would be back later to check on them. R. L. testified that cloutier was his parish priest in chelmsford. When cloutier returned to the park, he brought a case of beer for the two, telling them that they could only have four beers each per day if the case was to last the holiday weekend. R. L. said he had injured his foot earlier in the day and was sitting in front of the tent with his foot raised. His friend was off visiting someone else in the park. He testified he told the priest his foot was throbbing with pain, and said cloutier offered to message it. "He told me he used to be a physical therapist. 'i'll give you a message to make the pain go away.'" "I thought there was nothing wrong with that," said r. l. and the two went into the tent. R. L. , who was 17 or 18 at the time, said he was lying on his stomach on a sleeping bag in only his underwear when he felt cloutier's hand slide under his briefs and fondle his privates. Initially, the massage was on his foot, said R. L. "it felt really good. I started feeling really relaxed. Then i felt his hand rubbing my penis. "I trusted him, i knew him. i believed in him. To me he was a friend," testified a tearful r. l. The contact lasted 10 or 15 seconds said r. l. "I realized what he was doing and i stopped it." For a long time, said r. l., he blamed himself, thinking he may have given cloutier the wrong idea. "For some reason i was blaming myself. i don't know. maybe i gave him the wrong impression." He didn't immediately tell anyone of the incident, said r. l. "Who would believe me," he said. R. L. said he only came forward when he saw a newspaper article about cloutier being charged with sexual crimes involving others in 2006. He came forward because "i just want my life back. i want peace. i want closure. i've had enough suffering. i don't want to suffer no more." In an opening address to the court, prosecutor diana fuller said after all but one of the alleged incidents, cloutier was transferred to another parish within the church's Sault Ste. marie diocese. Fuller said some of the alleged incidents took place at the Windy lake campground, some at a parish rectory where cloutier was hosting a party and at a weekend sleepover at another rectory where cloutier told the two complaints they would have to take turns sleeping with him because there weren't enough beds. On a number of occasions, fuller said, cloutier offered the complainants alcohol. She said police launched an investigation into the complaints in the late 1980s and were meeting some of the complainants at a family's home when cloutier and then Bishop gerard dionne showed up and effectively took over the meeting. The police probe died at the time, but was brought back to life when some of the complainants once again came forward, fuller said. during testimony on Wednesday, a 38-year-old man repeatedly paused to collect himself to describe what happened to him in cloutier's bed following an evening of drinking at the l'annonciation church rectory in the fall of 1982. "(father Bernard cloutier) rolled over and my underwear was off at that time," testified the man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban. "He grabbed my penis and began to ejaculate (me). "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 testified he was 12 at the time of the incident. He said he and another male teen had been invited by cloutier to come over to the rectory for a "pop and chip" party on a friday night in the fall of 1982, the term being code for involving alcohol. While both of the teens consumed alcohol and nothing happened to him that night, the man testified he and the friend went back to the rectory for a second party the next evening. 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. "He took each other's hands and placed them on each other's privates, then began to ejaculate both of us up and down. now, i'm starting to question things. This is not normal." That incident ended because the other teen suddenly passed out, he said. That was when cloutier escorted the witness to the bedroom. He said that the fondling of his penis on cloutier's bed ended when he fell asleep. after several attempts to leave the bedroom, which only resulted in cloutier fondling him some more, the witness went into the living room and went to sleep on a chair. He testified that the next morning, he awoke to find himself back in cloutier's bed. The man testified he immediately told his mother what happened. That led to a Sudbury regional Police investigation. Earlier Wednesday, the court heard from a now 48-year-old man who said he had been fondled repeatedly by cloutier while the priest was stationed at St. louis de france in Espanola in the mid-1970s. The man was 15 at the time. What started with neck and back mas-sages on a couch in his family home grew into fondling incidents in his bedroom, the man testified. on a road trip to montreal in the summer of 197, cloutier purchased alcohol for the teen and they ended up naked in the same bed on the second night, the witness said. "i can just remember lying on the bed. i remember being exposed and him being exposed as well. i can remember him masturbating. i remember him putting my hand on his penis as he was ejaculating. "The next morning, i felt horrible. i felt ashamed. Why did i let it go so far? give me the strength to stop this. i should have told him 'i don't like what you are doing. Stop!' "
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