Former Priest, Boy Scout Leader Faces More Sex Charges

CBC News
May 8, 2012

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/story/2012/05/08/tby-more-priest-charges.html?cmp=rss

Ralph Rowe

The Ontario Provincial Police in northwestern Ontario have laid more charges against a former Anglican priest and boy scout leader for alleged sexual offences.

Ralph Rowe, 72, will appear in court in Kenora, Ont., later this month. He's charged with five counts of sexual assault and two counts of indecent assault.

The charges relate to incidents that occurred between 1973 and 1986 in the First Nations communities of Fort Severn, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Wunnumin Lake and Kingfisher Lake.

Rowe has already been convicted of more than 50 counts of sex-related crimes that occurred in the 1970s and '80s, when he travelled to various First Nations in Manitoba and northern Ontario to conduct church services and organize youth events, including scout outings.

Rowe was convicted in 1988 of 10 counts of sexual abuse relating to his time in Split Lake. In 1994, Rowe pleaded guilty to 29 sex-related crimes involving 16 victims and received a six-year sentence. He served 4½ years.

In 2007 and 2009, he was found guilty of similar charges.

He currently lives in Surrey, B.C. RCMP served a summons for him to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Kenora on May 31.

There have also been civil cases related to Rowe. In October 2011, CBC learned that at least two lawsuits against Scouts Canada related to Rowe were settled out of court.

The two Rowe lawsuits were among more than a dozen civil cases against Scouts Canada where out-of court settlements involved confidentiality clauses.

In the Rowe case, the clause didn't bar victims from speaking out about the abuse they suffered, but it did not allow them to discuss the amount of compensation they received in the settlement.

In December 2011, Scouts Canada chief commissioner Steve Kent said the organization was willing to lift the confidentiality clauses found in some of the out-of-court settlements.

Kent, who has not yet reviewed the new charges, said Rowe "abused his community status to gain entry into and then betray the values of Scouts Canada."

Kent said Rowe was suspended and terminated from Scouts Canada after charges were first laid against him in the late 1980s.

"Scouts Canada participated fully in the police investigations into Rowe's activities and provided all records relating to his Scouting activities, and we will of course support the investigation at this time in any way we can," Kent said in an email Tuesday.