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	Church Denies Fostering Abuse By Michael Tutton The Chronicle-Herald October 15, 2009 http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1147676.html The Roman Catholic Church has filed court documents denying that it created an environment that led to the alleged abuse of young boys by a priest in southwestern Nova Scotia in the 1940s and ’50s. In separate statements of claim filed earlier this year with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Kenneth Joseph Boudreau and Raymond Boudreau allege they were abused as children by Rev. Adolphe LeBlanc — who died 35 years ago — in two small parishes. They allege their abuse began in their village of Wedgeport in the Yarmouth area in the 1950s. A third statement of claim has been filed on behalf of a man identified by the initials H.W.M., a former altar boy in Salmon River. He claims he was abused starting in 1945 when he was 14. None of the allegations in the lawsuits have been proven in court. Kenneth and Raymond Boudreau — who are not related — held a news conference in January to discuss their lawsuits against the church. The archdiocese of Halifax and the diocese of Yarmouth filed statements of defence dated Oct. 5 in all three cases. In each instance, the defendants "neither confirm or deny" the allegations of abuse, saying the church has "insufficient knowledge" of what occurred. However, the church refutes arguments made by the plaintiffs that it bore some responsibility for sexual abuse by a priest, or that it knew at the time that LeBlanc "had a propensity to engage in deviant behaviour." In the suit brought by Kenneth Boudreau, the statement of defence says the church "denies that it was responsible for the training of LeBlanc." "The diocese of Yarmouth denies that it created an opportunity for LeBlanc to exert power or authority over the plaintiff . . . and states that it fostered nothing but an appropriate environment for members of the Roman Catholic Church," says the statement of defence. The church says if LeBlanc did commit abuse, then it was "his independent act for which he is solely responsible in fact and law." In their statements of claim, Kenneth and Raymond Boudreau allege they were abused while LeBlanc worked in Wedgeport. The abuse involving Kenneth Boudreau — who lives in Ontario — allegedly began in 1958 when he was 11. Raymond Boudreau, who still lives in Wedgeport, alleges in the statement of claim that the abuse began in 1955 when he was 11 and lasted at least four years. The plaintiffs are seeking $2 million each for pain and suffering, mental distress and exemplary and punitive damages.
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