By Marianne White
Canada.com
July 11, 2011
http://www.canada.com/news/Quebec+priest+pleads+guilty+sexual+assault+charges/5083386/story.html
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| Priest Raymond Marie Lavoie asked his victims for forgiveness Monday after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault involving 13 boys. |
A Quebec priest asked his victims for forgiveness and mercy Monday after pleading guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault involving 13 boys who attended a private Catholic school in the 1970s and 80s.
But the apology provided little relief to one of the victims, who had told court earlier his actions decades ago amounted to dropping a "dirty bomb" in his life that forever scarred him.
Raymond-Marie Lavoie, 71, was a teacher at Seminaire St. Alphonse, in Ste.-Anne-de-Beaupre, just outside Quebec City, when the assaults allegedly took place.
"I want to express my profound sadness to you all for the unfortunate gesture that I did several years ago," Lavoie told the court Monday morning.
He added he slipped on a "dangerous slope" and lamented he didn't find the wisdom to put an end to it earlier.
"I'm totally devastated," Lavoie said in a statement read calmly.
Some of his victims were in the courtroom, including the first man who pressed charges against Lavoie in 2008.
The man, who has asked the court to be identified, is Frank Tremblay, who was 12 at the time of the events.
Tremblay read an emotional victim's impact statement Monday after Lavoie pleaded guilty to a total of 21 counts of sexual assaults, indecent assault and gross indecency on him and 12 other young men.
"You were having a little fun, but did you ever wonder what you did to me?" Tremblay said, looking at Lavoie. "You destroyed the little boy inside of me and ever since I have been living with shame and fear."
France Bedard, president of an association for victims of abuse by priests, dismissed Lavoie's apology as an attempt to protect the institution of the Catholic Church.
"It was empty, not sincere. He only expressed one regret and it's that his behaviour sullied the reputation of his congregation," she said.
Lavoie's victims were all boarders at the college in the 1970s and 1980s and were between the ages of 12 and 15 at the time.
Lavoie was a teacher at the seminary and oversaw the dormitory. According to the facts presented in court by the Crown prosecutor Monday, most the sexual crimes were committed in Lavoie's room, next to the dormitory, or in the victims' bed.
Tremblay told the court Lavoie dropped an everlasting "dirty bomb" in his life when he first raped him.
The man, now in his 40s, told reporters outside the courtroom his testimony took some weight off his shoulders but the battle is not over. Tremblay launched a class-action against Lavoie and is seeking $750,000 for himself and dozen other alleged victims.
Lavoie was first arrested in December 2009 and his trial was set to start Monday morning at the Quebec City courthouse but instead he pleaded guilty.
Another of his victims testified Monday the sexual assaults led him to abuse alcohol and drugs, on top of seriously preventing him from maintaining healthy relationships.
"He was like a father to me," said the man who cannot be identified, adding that he lost confidence in people in authority after the assaults.
Crown prosecutor Carmen Rioux cited the fact Lavoie was a figure of authority and assaulted a high number of young boys over a long period of time as aggravating circumstances.
"They were boarders, sleeping at the college during the week. They should have felt safe in that place, not in danger," she said.
Lavoie will undergo a pre-sentencing examination and will be back on Oct. 28. Lavoie is facing a maximum sentence of 10 years of prison.
The class-action lawsuit filed by Tremblay alleges that up to five priests were involved in the systematic abuse of young boys between 1960 and 1987 at the Seminaire St. Alphonse.
Another priest from the seminary, Jean-Claude Bergeron, is facing charges of committing lewd acts against three students at the school in 1979.
The suit was authorized by the Quebec Superior Court last November. The school, ran by a group of missionary priests, closed in 2001.
Among other allegations, the document says the priests "consulted with one another and conspired in an effort to determine which students they would abuse, and divided (the victims) up amongst themselves."
Lavoie has been suspended by the Church pending the outcome of his case. The congregation declined to comment on Lavoie's guilty plea Monday.
Contact: mwhite@postmedia.com
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