More Ptsd Symptoms Confirmed by Psychologist at Mount Cashel Trial
By Barb Sweet
A lawyer’s cross-examination of a forensic psychologist Thursday in Newfoundland Supreme Court challenged the expert with other potential causes of some Mount Cashel survivors’ life problems, including anger over corporal punishment, accepted by society in the 1950s as a form of disciplining children. Chris Blom, one of the lawyers representing the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. John’s at the civil trial, pointed out to William Foote — an expert from New Mexico brought into the case by lawyers for a group of former orphanage residents — that one of the John Does was physically abused by certain Christian Brothers for several years before he was sexual abused, suggesting the physical trauma was more likely to blame for his anger issues. Blom also questioned Foote about the likelihood of a child of alcoholic parents developing their own substance abuse issues — the John Doe who went into the military had parents with drinking problems and the atmosphere of soldiering in his day was also hard drinking. After court Thursday, that John Doe told The Telegram the lawyer was off-base about why his military career, though long, earned him a retirement with a low rank. He said later in his career, he learned to be a good soldier, but by then it was too late to rise through the ranks and he attributes his anger to Mount Cashel. Another possible blame for the mens’ troubles was the impact of losing at least one parent, before they got to Mount Cashel, Blom suggested to Foote. Foote who met with three of the test case John Does in 2000, plus two other claimants in the civil trial, performing a battery of psychological tests. He spent much of the day Thursday — through questioning by former orphanage residents’ lawyer Will Hiscock and Blom’s cross-examination — connecting things like anger, depression, substance abuse, post tramuatic stress disorder syndrome (PTSD) symptoms and other troubles to the abuse the men suffered at Mount Cashel, particularly sexual abuse. While details of the abuse of boys at Mount Cashel several decades ago have been hashed out repeatedly already in courtroom No. 2, the cringeworthyness has never lessened with the retelling of them. As Foote delved into details of a former teacher’s experiences with physical and sexual abuse and the impact on his life, the John Doe sat on a courtroom spectator bench staring straight ahead. At his side for moral support was his son, who at times shook his head, and reached out to comfort his father. As hard as it was to hear, he said he wanted to be there for his dad. The other John Doe — who went in to the military after Mount Cashel — cast his eyes downward at times.. The two were childhood pals at the orphanage who got expelled Boxing Day in the mid-1950s trying to defend one another from a violent physical assault by a Christian Brother. And Thursday afternoon, the retired teacher reached out and patted his friend’s shoulder as details of his life were hashed over. Among Foote’s testimony earlier Thursday, he talked of one of the Brothers stripping the boy’s pyjamas and underwear and placing a jock strap, waking him from sleep. This said Foote was a an example of a way for a pedophile to rationalize his bizarre behaviour by presenting it as doing good for a child — sharing a lesson. Foote talked of the former teacher’s having nightmares in his senior years as an indication he is still trying to work through what happened as a result of the various incidents of physical and sexual abuse. The expert said it was extraordinary to still be grappling with that at his age. Like another John Doe who a psychiatrist recently testified did not have PTSD, Foote said this man did have clear symptoms. The psychologist connected the man’s symptoms to what happened at Mount Cashel, rather than the death of his mother beforehand. Foote also wondered what further the man would have made of himself — despite many successes in life — if not for the abuse and the poor self-esteem that resulted. “He said he never asked to be born,” Foote said of what the John Doe told him in 2000. “And if he had been asked he would have turned it down. He would have turned down his life… That to me is a remarkable statement because .... (he) has made a great deal of life and has led a very good life, not only for himself and his family but his community and for Newfoundland.” Four test case John Does represent about 60 former residents from the 1940s to ‘60s who say the Catholic Church should be held liable for physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by certain members of the lay order Christian Brothers. The church contends it wasn’t involved in the orphanage’s operation. The testimony this morning all seemed a bit too surreal when Foote, under cross examination, began making a list on a large-paper chart of the scale of invasiveness of sexual abuse for boys — sodomy being the worst and fondling being lower on the scale. But the questions for lawyers, as well as the answers and the repeated recitation of the details are part of the job of proving or disproving the liability case at trial and determining the level of impact of the abuse, particularly sexual, on each of the men. Live tweets from the courtroom at bsweettweets Email: bsweet@thetelegram.com Earlier story: More PTSD symptoms confirmed by psychologist at Mount Cashel trial While details of the abuse of boys at Mount Cashel several decades ago have been hashed out repeatedly already in Newfoundland Supreme Court, the cringeworthyness has never lessened with the retelling of them. As forensic psychologist William Foote delved into details of a former teacher’s experiences with physical and sexual abuse and the impact on his life, the John Doe sat on a courtroom spectator bench staring straight ahead. At his side for moral support was his grown son, who at times shook his head, and reached out to his father. As hard as it was to hear, he said he wanted to be there for his dad. Another John Doe cast his eyes downward. The two were childhood pals at the orphanage who got expelled in the mid-1950s trying to defend one another from a violent physical assault by a Christian Brother. Among Foote’s testimony this morning — he was called as a witness by lawyers representing former orphanage residents — he talked of one of the Brothers stripping the boy’s pyjamas and underwear and placing a jock strap on him, waking him from sleep. This, said Foote, was an example of a way for a pedophile to rationalize his bizarre behaviour by presenting it as doing good for a child — sharing a lesson. Foote talked of the former teacher having nightmares in his 60s as an indication he is still trying to work through what happened as a result of the various incidents of physical and sexual abuse. The psychologist saw him and two other John Does in 2000 and did a series of psychological tests. The expert witness said it was extraordinary to still be grappling with that at his age. Like another John Doe, who a psychiatrist recently testified did not have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Foote said this man did have clear symptoms. The psychologist connected the man’s symptoms to what happened at Mount Cashel, rather than the death of his mother beforehand. Foote also wondered what further accomplishments the man would have achieved — despite many successes in life — if not for the abuse and the poor self-esteem that resulted. Four test case John Does represent about 60 former residents from the 1940s to ‘60s who say the Catholic Church should be held liable for physical and sexual abuse perpetrated by certain members of the lay order Christian Brothers. The church contends it wasn’t involved in the orphanage’s operation. The testimony this morning all seemed a bit too surreal when Foote — under cross examination — began making a list on a large-paper chart of the scale of invasiveness of sexual abuse for boys, sodomy being the worst and fondling being lower on the scale. But the questions for lawyers, as well as the answers and the repeated recitation of the details are part of the job of proving or disproving the case at trial. Follow live tweets from the courtroom @bsweettweets Email: bsweet@thetelegram.com
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