Victim Tells Court How Assault by Former Priest Has Affected His Life

By Gary Kean
The Western Star
February 27, 2013

http://www.thewesternstar.com/News/Local/2013-02-27/article-3185717/Victim-tells-court-how-assault-by-former-priest-has-affected-his-life/1

Former Roman Catholic priest George Smith is seen in Supreme Court in Corner Brook on Wednesday for the start of his sentencing hearing on sex related charges that date back to the 1970s and '80s.

Sentencing hearing for George Smith started today in Supreme Court

CORNER BROOK  One of George Smith’s victims wants to give something back to the former Roman Catholic priest who abused him when he was a child.

The man was one of 13 who suffered sexual assaults at the hands of Smith in western Newfoundland in the 1970s and ’80s when he was a parish priest in their communities.

The man was also one of three victims who read out their victim impact statements during Smith’s sentencing hearing in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook this morning.

The first victim to read his statement carried a crucifix that he said Smith gave him more than three decades ago. He could not give it directly to Smith, but said after court that he hoped to find a way to get it back to him.

“The cross has proven to be too much to bear, so I will be returning this cross to George Smith and let him bear the cross for a little while,” said the man.

What he did tell the court was how “this despicable and criminal event has greatly impacted my life for the past 35 years.”

The man said the sexual abuse compromised his emotional and social development in his formative years, as he was going through puberty when he was assaulted. He then went into detail about how the incidents of sexual assault have affected his ability to trust, has fragmented his family, has kept him from pursuing his dreams of careers in medicine or policing and how it has rocked his faith in the Catholic Church.

“I am disgusted with the Catholic Church and what was done to me by one of their own,” the man told Justice William Goodridge and everyone else attending court. “My view of the Catholic Church has been tainted, as I feel it fails to address centuries of gross misconduct by priests like what was done to me as a child.”

Before the victim impact statements were provided to the court, Crown attorney Trina Simms read a lengthy statement of facts that Smith and his lawyer, Tom Williams, have agreed to. Simms went through the reported experiences of all 13 of the victims identified in the 41 charges of sexual assault, indecent assault and assault to which Smith has pleaded guilty.

In many cases, Smith plied young boys with alcohol and other gifts before assaulting them. In some cases, the assaults were repeated for years.

In other instances, some of the victims tried to ward off the assaults by physically striking back at Smith when he made advances.

Simms will begin the submissions on an appropriate sentence for Smith this afternoon.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue into Thursday.