Retired Anglican Priest from Cambridge Sentenced for Decades-Old Sex Assaults

By Catherine Thompson
Our Windsor
January 29, 2014

http://www.ourwindsor.ca/news-story/4340303-retired-anglican-priest-from-cambridge-sentenced-for-decades-old-sex-assaults/

A retired Anglican priest from Cambridge faces at least four years in federal prison for sex offences dating back almost 30 years.

On Tuesday, Rev. George Ferris, 66, was sentenced to four years in prison for two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation in connection with offences that took place in Brant County between 1983 and 1989, when he served at St. James' Anglican Church in Paris, Ont.

A sentencing hearing was held Wednesday for Ferris on two other charges of sexual assault against two separate complainants. He was convicted in November of those offences.

At Ferris' trial in October on those charges, Chris Morrison, 42, of Paris, Ont., testified he was molested by Ferris, who was his priest, as a teenager over several years, in a situation that escalated from embraces to oral sex and two instances of actual and attempted anal sex. The court was also told the witness asked Ferris for "hush" money in 2006 and received $5,000 deposited in his bank account.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the Anglican diocese of Huron said it accepts the decision of the court. The bishop of the diocese, Rev. Robert Bennett, "will take the appropriate disciplinary action in the case of Rev. Ferris" in the near future, it said.

Disciplinary measures could be anything from a note in Ferris's record to a suspension or even defrocking.

"Rev. Ferris is still a priest, and he's subject to discipline by his bishop," said Rev. Keith Nethery, the diocese spokesperson.

Morrison asked at the sentencing Tuesday that the publication ban against identifying him as Ferris' young victim be lifted. Morrison told the Brantford Expositor his decision to go public was a step in his healing process.

"For 25 to 30 years, I was a victim in silence. Today, I am no longer a silent victim," he said.

Justice Kevin Sherwood said in November he found no evidence the complainant had consented to any of the sexual contact with Ferris. The judge said Ferris had been in a position of authority over the complainant because of his position as a minister and the respect with which the complainant viewed him.

Ferris served at St. James' Anglican Church on Ellis Road in Cambridge for about nine years until his retirement at the end of 2010. He served as interim priest at St. James' Anglican Church in Ingersoll in 2011.

He also spent about 10 years at Renison University College in Waterloo, where his roles included director of alumni and development, director of residences and chaplain.

Ordained in 1971, Ferris has served a number of parishes, including the Six Nations, Walkerton and Paris, Ont.

Ferris is married and has three children.

At his sentencing, he apologized to his victim, as well as to his wife, his family, friends "and the church I served for 40-plus years."

Ferris is also required to submit a DNA sample to the national DNA databank, and will be registered on the national register of sex offenders.

He is also banned for life from possessing firearms. For 10 years after his release he will be banned from being in any public place where children 16 or under are likely to be, unless accompanied by someone 21 or older.

Contact: cthompson@therecord.com