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	Ex-Altar Boys to Sue Diocese By Star Staff Sudbury Star January 18, 2010 http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2265823 CANADA -- The four former altar boys sexually abused by Father Bernard A. Cloutier will today launch a civil lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. In November, Cloutier was sentenced to five years in prison for sexual assaulting four boys during a period of nearly nine years more than quarter century ago. The victims ranged in age from 12 to 17 years at the time of the assaults. In each case, Cloutier befriended the boys and became close friends with their parents. He was, said Superior Court Justice Paul Kane, "a trusted and frequent guest in their homes." At Cloutier's sentencing hearing on Nov. 9, the victims told a Sudbury court how they turned to drugs and alcohol to try to deal with the fact a trusted family friend had sexually abused them when they were just boys. For those victims, the sentencing was an important, but not final, step on their journey of justice and healing. Cloutier has filed an appeal with the Ontario Court of Appeal over his conviction. None of the four, who are now all middle-aged men, can be named because of a court order. Today, three of the four victims will be on hand to provide details of the lawsuit, along with their lawyer, Rob Talach, of the London-based firm Ledroit Beckett Litigation Lawyers. The law firm has launched several civil suits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie on behalf of abuse victims during the past few years. Talach represented two victims in another sexual abuse lawsuit against the diocese that was settled out of court in 2008. That lawsuit named Father Jean-Claude Etienne, who was parish priest at St. Thomas Apotre Parish and St. Thomas Separate School in Warren, which both men attended at different times. Talach's firm also filed lawsuits against the Sault Ste. Marie Diocese on behalf of six victims in January 2008. In February 2007, it served three lawsuits of $4.5 million each against the diocese. In July 2005, Ledroit Beckett filed a suit on behalf of Robert Berube, 50, against the diocese and Father Etienne. Ledroit Beckett has represented dozens of victims against church dioceses across Canada. Last May, the law firm won the largest such settlement in Canadian history -- more than $2 million in damages -- against the Roman Catholic Diocese of London and Father Charles Sylvestre, on behalf of Lou Ann Soontiens.
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