More Reaction to Mt. Cashel Settlement

VOCM
May 25, 2013

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=34551&latest=1


St. Johns' lawyer Bob Buckingham says he doesn't expect the compensation owed to the victims of the Mount Cashel sex abuse scandal to be distributed until some time next year. Buckingham was weighing in on a mediation settlement reached this week for survivors of abuse at the hands of the Irish Christian Brothers. Buckingham says the claims should have been settled years ago, and the process should not have taken so long to settle. He says the resistance of the Christian Brothers, the Roman Catholic Church, and responsible governments to settle the matter delayed the process to get survivors of abuse the justice and compensation they were due.

Buckingham says no amount of money can compensate the victims for the abuse they suffered and the long process they've had to endure to achieve a settlement. He offered his thanks to lead lawyer Geoff Budden for working on the cases since 1996. Buckingham says they will now work to accumulate the maximum assets of the Christian Brothers organization and begin the compensation assessment process to distribute the money to survivors. The Mount Cashel scandal broke in 1989 when it was revealed that hundreds of boys, who had been living at the orphanage on Torbay Road, had suffered for decades at the hands of the Irish Christian Brothers. The resulting investigation and inquiry resulted in many arrests, and a lengthy legal process to get compensation for the many victims who came forward.