By Jane Sims
London Free Press
April 20, 2011
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/04/20/18047186.html
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The Roman Catholic Church covered up decades of a pedophile priest’s Southwestern Ontario abuse, but a judge said the church is forgiven and shouldn’t be punished financially for his crimes.
In a civil court decision Wednesday, Superior Court Justice David Little ordered the Diocese of London to pay Kelly Murphy-Myers, 41, of Chatham, $610,000 in general damages, special damages and lost income for the sexual abuse inflicted upon her by Rev. Charles Sylvestre in the 1970s when she was a student at St. Ursula’s school.
But Little didn’t award punitive damages — meant to punish and deter reprehensible conduct — even though he acknowledged there was “a cover-up” by the church.
“There was a cover-up by the Diocese. There was a cover-up by the Roman Catholic Church itself. The cover-up was for the benefit of the Diocese and church and the expense of the victims,” he said in a written judgment.
Little said “the serious nature of the negative impact upon the victims” has only recently become known, and the diocese has taken “substantial steps to address the issue of sexual abuse.”
Those include adopting a sexual abuse policy in 1989, establishing an alternate dispute resolution process to resolve civil cases in 1996 and public apologies by both retired Bishop John Sherlock in 2002 and Bishop Ronald Fabbro in 2006.
“It would appear that numerous positive steps have been taken to rectify the problem so that at least the Diocese itself need no longer be punished for failing to act appropriately,” Little said.
While Little wouldn’t punish the church, he said he built in an “aggravated damages factor” in the award to address the church’s inaction.
The decision came after a $3.5-million civil lawsuit and a three-week trial, the first of 77 claims by Sylvestre’s victims to go to before a judge.
While the crux of the case focused both on how much Sylvestre’s abuse hurt Murphy-Myer’s life, the bigger issue was how much the church knew about Sylvestre’s behaviour — something Little said Murphy-Myer’s lawyers pursued with “considerable vigour.”
The judge said it was his “firm belief” the diocese’s conduct “stemmed from its desire to protect its own image at the expense of any problems which might be inflicted upon the victims.”
“However, while the church was reticent and reluctant to acknowledge its responsibility, I do not believe that society at large, or the Diocese, or the church were able to fully appreciate or comprehend the incurability of the pedophile, the high likelihood of re-offending or the damage the abuse caused the victim.”
At trial, Murphy Myers’ lawyer, Rob Talach, referred to Sylvestre’s numerous moves from parish to parish as “the silent shuffle”— from Hamilton to Windsor, London, Sarnia, Chatham and Pain Court — every time there was a sexual complaint.
Sylvestre was only sent for treatment — often for alcohol abuse — when a complaint was made public.
Murphy-Myers was one of dozens of girls preyed upon by Sylvestre at St. Ursula’s when she was between ages 7 and 10.
She described to the court becoming angry and withdrawn before entering high school when she made a suicide attempt. She married her boyfriend and had two children and later divorced and came out as a lesbian. She returned to university and has tried several jobs. She now works as a cell phone retail clerk.
Little heard expert evidence about the effects of abuse on a victim. He also reviewed historical facts about complaints about the priest as far back as 1951.
“The hierarchy of the Diocese had to know about Sylvestre’s propensities and was negligent in taking no, or inadequate steps, before appointing him Pastor at St. Ursula’s in Chatham in 1968,” Little said.
But, Little found Sherlock, who was also named in the suit, was not negligent despite “impressive” evidence from Rev. John Betkowski, a friend of the Myers’ family.
Betkowski testified he went to Sherlock after a complaint Sylvestre had inappropriately touched Murphy-Myers. Little said he believed the meeting took place.
Little also said “the passage of time affects memories” and noted Sherlock did act once he heard about Sylvestre’s activities later in Pain Court.
“No negligence has been proven against Bishop Sherlock for any damage caused to the plaintiff,” he said.
No decision has been made by either side about any appeal.
Talach said he was pleased with the final financial award and “most of the conclusions.”
He downplayed Little’s decision not to punish the church and said “a historical punitive damage award . . . is a very difficult evidentiary burden for the plaintiff.”
“In layman’s terms, we wanted the court to acknowledge there was a cover-up, we wanted the court to acknowledge the church shuffled these guys, and they put the church’s interest before that of parishioners and children. We got all that in the decision.”
Mark Adkinson, spokesperson for the diocese, said the church was “grateful for the positive recognition . . . about the efforts that we’re making toward prevention.”
“We now know what the mind of the court is.”
Contact: jane.sims@sunmedia.ca
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Justice David Little: “Considering the detrimental effect of the Diocese’s passive, protective approach over the years to the actions of its pedophile clergy has had upon the Diocese itself, considering the fact that deterring the Diocese from similar repeated conduct is no longer necessary and considering the fact that the Diocese is a unique institution, no further punishment is required.”
ABOUT THE CASE
— Rev. Charles Sylvestre was convicted in 2006 of 47 counts on indecent assault on 47 women who were childhood parishioners of his in Windsor, Sarnia, London, Chatham and Pain Court over four decades.
— He died at 84 in prison, three months into his three-year sentence. Since then, the Diocese of London has settled scores of civil claims. Only 8 eight of 77 civil actions concerning Sylvestre are yet to be resolved.
— Kelly Muphy-Myers’ civil case was the first to go to trial.
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