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	Hope and Healing for Victims By Bob Boughner Chatham Daily News September 11, 2009 http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1748307 Cecilia McLauchlin, the youngest of Rev. Charles Sylvestre's abuse victims, wants her settlement to be a beacon of hope for those still waiting for their lawsuits to be resolved. The 32-year-old Blenheim resident was to provide details of her abuse at a news conference today in London. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed by her lawyer, Robert Talach, a Chatham native. "We managed to reach a settlement with the Diocese of London after nearly three years of litigation and only three days before the trial was to begin this week," Talach told The Chatham Daily News. McLauchlin, in her claim, disclosed details of her sexual abuse which began at the age of four when she attended Immaculate Conception Church in Pain Court. Mark Adkinson, a spokesman for the diocese, said a "fair and reasonable" settlement was reached last Friday. "We apologize for any misconduct on the part of Sylvestre," he said. "And we hope this settlement helps the healing process for Mrs. McLauchlin." Adkinson said there have been more than 50 such settlements since 2006, the majority of which involved Sylvestre. "I think we are past the halfway mark," he said. The London law firm of Ledroit Beckett has scheduled a media conference this morning to allow McLauchlin to talk about her ordeal. According to her claim, McLauchlin said the sexual abuse began in 1981 and er the following two years. The abuse included fondling by Sylvestre, sexual intercourse and oral sex. Talach said: "We do know that the abuse she recalls all took place in the Pain Court church rectory and one incident in the nearby school washroom." It is claimed that in order to facilitate the abuse, Sylvestre engaged in a pattern of behaviour that was intended to make McLauchlin feel she was special in the eyes of the priest, the church and God. Moreover, says the claim, Sylvestre also engaged in a pattern of behaviour that was intended to make McLauchlin feel her soul may be in jeopardy. In 2005, Sylvestre was charged under the Criminal Code of Canada and in 2006 was sentenced to a penitentiary term. He died in jail a short time later. McLauchlin claimed the Diocese of London knew Sylvestre had the propensity to engage in sexually inappropriate behaviour because of several factors including his addiction to alcohol and concerns of other clergy, parishioners and students. McLauchlin claims that despite its knowledge of the same, the diocese took no steps to stop the behaviour or to protect her and, instead, took steps to attempt to cover-up Sylvestre's behaviour. The Blenheim woman claims she suffered, among other things, physical pain, mental anguish, nervous shock and humiliation, depression, loss of religious life and impairment of her opportunity to experience a normal adolescence and adulthood. She suffered physical, mental, psychological and emotional stress, shock and suffering, which will continue indefinitely.
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